Govt hails new diabetes testing equipment
Malawi Government has said the new SDA1Care diabetes analysing and testing equipment is the ideal machine to limit the growth of the disease in the country.
In an interview with The Nation on Wednesday, deputy director in the Ministry of Health responsible for non-communicable diseases Beatrice Mwagomba said the equipment will help in early identification of the disease.
“Diabetes cases are on the rise in the country, especially from the age of 25. Our statists show that over 900 000 in this age bracket have diabetes.
“But our fear is that there are many people with diabetes who are not in our care and they do not know that they have the disease. The SDA1 Care will help in early diagnosis and monitoring,” said Mwagomba.
The SDA1 Care Analyser is manufactured in South Korea by SD Biosensor, but in Malawi it is distributed by Pharmacare Pharmacies.
Speaking at the launch of the equipment in Lilongwe last week, SD Biosensor marketing manager responsible for Africa Andy Kim said the equipment has high performance rate of accuracy and precision.
“It can read a patient’s information for the past three months before actual testing. Doctors can monitor if the patient was taking medical advice or not. It also does not need to be refrigerated, but it can be stored in a warm place,” said Kim.
Pharamacare also donated glucometers worthy K2.2 million to Ministry of Health.
Singayazi Kaminjolo, the writter: These glucometers require strips to measure the level of blood glucose; and the strips are not cheap. I am serious. You should have mentioned this in your article, for completeness sake. Because ninety nine percent of Malawians cannot afford the strips. So, how helpful is this strategy for the Malawian in the village, unless the strips are totally or heavily subsidized?
Koma PILIZI lembani nkhani momveka bwino komanso muli ndi ma facts onse. Simungayike picture yolondola or osayika nkomwe ngati simunayipeze