Filenews 10 June 2022 - by Marilena Panagi
For recognition, the specialization of diabetology in Cyprus is still slow, but the integration of podologists into the GHS is still slow. There is a need to strengthen diabetology clinics operating in the public sector and the need to educate teachers, especially in primary education, on how to treat children with diabetes. These are some of the findings of yesterday's meeting of the Health Committee of the House, which concluded that there is still a long delay in the integration of the new available pharmaceutical formulations, as well as specialized equipment for the treatment of diabetes in the GHS.
At the moment in Cyprus, said the president of the National Committee for Diabetes Joseph Kassios, it is estimated that there are around 85,000 diabetics. Internationally, it is estimated that by 2030 the number of diabetic people will exceed 500 million of whom 10% will develop type A diabetes and the remaining 90% will develop type B diabetes.
A gap, Mr. Cassios admitted, still exists when it comes to the specialization of doctors in diabetes. However, he added, following the recognition of the specialization of diabetology in Greece, Cyprus (Ministry of Health and PIS) has also advanced the procedures for a similar move. At the moment in Cyprus, he added, there are around 50 doctors with a special interest in diabetes and these doctors will be able, very soon, together with endocrinologists, to serve diabetic people. A second gap, he said, is perhaps found in the education of children, parents and teachers in the management of diabetes, but he added, "in the past children with diabetes were stigmatized. Now children with diabetes don't experience this stigma."
With the recognition of diabetology as a separate specialization, endocrinologists agree, with their representative stating that this will help in the service and monitoring of patients, a position with which the representative of the PIS agreed.
Both the representatives of the various medical institutions and the patients' associations, stressed at the same time the gap observed in the inclusion of specialized equipment for the monitoring of diabetes in the GHS, as well as in the inclusion of new technology drugs, while the president of the Federation of Cyprus Patients' Associations, Marios Kouloumas, pointed out the fact that the GHS has not yet included podiatrists, which in the case of diabetics are particularly important. The need for the inclusion of podologists in the GHS, moreover, was stressed by the representatives of all patient associations that participated in the meeting, who mentioned that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of lower limb amputations due to the improper monitoring of the "diabetic foot".
The president of the OSAK said that the Federation of Patients has been informed that the Health Insurance Organisation intends to integrate podologists into the GHS. "But until this is done and because it takes time, we have suggested that the health ministry subsidise patients to have the services they need and our request is pending before the health minister," he said.
With regard to the diabetology clinics currently operating in Cyprus, representatives of the public doctors said that these clinics offer their services to Cypriot patients and asked for their reinforcement, referring to practices followed abroad with the operation of "one stop" points. Structures to which the diabetic is addressed to receive the services he needs.
As for the specialized equipment, the chairman of the national committee on diabetes said that "the technology is indeed very helpful", however, he added, "it is not addressed to everyone and not all insulin pumps can be used by everyone". For example, if a child carries the pump but is not trained in its proper use, then he may fall into a diabetic coma.
Anxiety from parents of children with diabetes
The meeting was also attended by parents of children with diabetes, who expressed their anxiety about the fact that in Cyprus there is no organized structure to which parents can turn to get all the information they need. They cited as an example what happened in November 2021 when the contract for diabetes measuring machines expired and parents did not know what to do to secure new machines and consumables for their children. "Because we are a group of new parents and we can search the internet and be informed we do it ourselves and we are informed about both new equipment and medicines," they said, adding that "the problem starts from the national strategy for diabetes which does not separate type A diabetes from type B diabetes." At the same time, they mentioned that there is a gap in the dietetic services as well as in the schools where "there is not even a psychologist to support our children, while in general neither teachers have the education they need to know how to treat a child with diabetes".
"A teacher will certainly not give medicines to a student but he needs to know how to act when his student develops hypoglycaemia," the chairman of the National Committee on Diabetes said, while a parent of a diabetic child, who he said is also an educator, argued that teachers are informed "in a paragraph" of a handbook on how to treat children with health problems, "which is of course not enough".
