On World Diabetes Day, commemorated on Wednesday, it was reported in the media that Health Minister Joe Cassar veered away from admitting that the time had come for a diabetes and obesity national screening programme to be implemented by government, despite Malta being classified among the countries with a high incidence of diabetes and obesity.

Rightly so, Dr Cassar said that there was free accessibility to all where patients can make use of the many health centres available and diabetes clinic at Mater Dei Hospital in order to monitor glucose levels, among other tests. However, by swaying away from the indirect question posed by a journalist present, this meant that government didn’t yet feel the urgent need to introduce a national screening programme at this stage, despite ongoing published statistics that reveal a high incidence of diabetes.

If one were to brush through the most recent of published statistics on Malta’s obesity rate, it is predicted that the rate will rise up to 11.6% which equates to the number of cases rising more than 30,000, leaving a significant impact on our health care budget.

Diabetes is a common and serious life-long condition affecting around 10% of people in Malta, and it is also responsible for an estimated one death every seven seconds worldwide. Therefore, government should start by seriously considering an obesity national screening programme, which would indirectly help reduce the number of people who end up diagnosed with diabetes.

The head of the diabetes clinic at Mater Dei, Professor Stephen Fava, was quoted as saying that if detected early, diabetes can easily be phased out of the system if one took some extra care.

It’s not only the Labour Party that is calling on government to kick-start a national screening programme and insisting on prevention rather than cure, but even the Chamber of Pharmacists has shared the same views.

The Malta Chamber of Pharmacists called upon government to implement an effective national diabetes plan which is the key to promoting diabetes education and prevention. Such a plan would raise public awareness on diabetes; it would promote diabetes on a national level and provide information and education.

“A national diabetes plan would look into primary prevention to reduce the incidence of diabetes, to ensure early diagnosis and reduce complications, morbidity and mortality and minimise the impact of diabetes on society, besides improving the quality of diabetes treatment and care, ensuring that this is accessible, community based and with a patient centred approach,” the Chamber wrote.

A national screening programme has the potential to reduce the prevalence of diabetes and the many problems that may ensue. Government should be aware of the significant burden diabetes has on individuals and their families while also taking into account the number of diabetic patients in the country.

In fact government has already been laying the foundations for healthy behaviours in the daily lives of us Maltese through settings such as communities, early childhood education in care environments and schools, and through online social media campaigns.

In the same way a breast screening programme initiative had been launched and turned out to be highly successful, it’s high time government tackles the silent pandemic in the same way.

But not all the burden should be placed on government. Parents should discourage fast food and encourage their children to do more exercise. They should follow suit and set the example.