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Over 70 000 people are diabetic

About 70 000 people in the country are registered to be diabetic, an indication that more might be affected by the disease.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday at the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) stakeholder review meeting, national diabetic educator, Joseph Phiri, pointed out that the numbers diagnosed with diabetes is alarming, yet little attention is given towards the disease.

He believes there are a lot of people in the country who might be suffering from the disease but give a blind eye or don’t know about it.

“There is need for people to go for check-ups. I wish government could open a diabetes centre in the country and train more medical staff who should specialize in dealing with the disease,” he said.

Minister of Health and Population, Atupele Muluzi, who attended the meeting, said CMST has the core mandate to procure, warehouse and distribute quality medicines and medical supplies to all public health facilities.

He said there are some clear areas that need to be addressed to improve the management of medical supplies and that the review meeting will look into it.

“My ministry has always tried to ensure that the strategic direction it has offered the trust was clear and in line with the government’s national health strategic benchmarks,” Muluzi viewed.

CMST chief executive officer (CEO), Feston Kaupa said the annual review meeting was important as it is a forum for the trust to present an annual report to stakeholders but also get feedback from stakeholders on how their services are delivered to the people.

He said the trust exists to provide the service to the public on behalf of government and that it was an opportunity to be accountable about what they offer.

“From the reports that we are going to present we expect constructive feedback, be it positive or negative as it will assist to get energized and come up with solutions,” the CEO explained.

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