Dr. Emmanuel Amissah, head of the diabetes unit of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), has expressed concern over the alarming rate at which people living with diabetes were dying.

He said the mortality rate would continue to increase if measures were not put in place to curb the high incidence of the disease in the country which currently have more than 300,0000 people testing positive.

Dr. Amissah was addressing members of the newly inaugurated Central Region Diabetes Association held under the theme “promoting community awareness of diabetes”.

The objective of the Association is to create a forum for all diabetics in the Region to interact and share ideas and to seek their welfare whilst creating an educational platform to sensitize the public on the disease.

According to him, in 2013 an estimated 382 million people were diagnosed with the disease globally and the number is expected to increase to 600 million by 2035.

He urged the public to make conscious efforts to change certain lifestyles and social behavior that were detrimental to their health whilst health institutions undertake rigorous educational campaign and other innovative interventions to prevent the disease.

Dr. Amissah expressed gratitude to Dr. Nana Ama Barnes, Head of Diabetes Unit of the Effia-Nkwanta Government Hospital in the Western Region through whose initiative the Association was formed.

Dr. Barnes appealed to all people living with the disease to join the Association for their own benefit adding that it would equip them with the right information to help prolong their lives.

She appealed to the public to report early symptoms of the disease for effective management and not to wait till it gets worse before reporting to the hospital.

Dr. Salifu Bawa, Senior Medical Officer of CCTH inaugurated the Association which has Dr. Amissah as Patron, Mrs. Nancy Abiw, Chairperson, Mr. Emmanuel Amoah, Vice Chairman and Mr. Daniel Bright Ntow-Kwafo, Secretary.