Mont Fleuri secondary students benefit from diabetes awareness session |13 December 2022

Around 65 students from the Mont Fleuri secondary school recently had the opportunity to know their diabetic status following a diabetes awareness session conducted by the Seychelles Centennial Women Lions Club (SCWLC).

The diabetic test to raise the awareness of diabetes among children was in commemoration of World Diabetics Day which fell on November 14 but was commemorated during the whole month of November.

Held inside the school’s recreational hall, the tests was conducted by Dr Murphy’s Medical and Gastro Clinic.

Apart from the students, also present for the diabetes awareness session were the district governor of the Lions Clubs International District 411A, Shehzan Luhar; president of SCWLC, Anitha Raj Kannan; zone chairperson Lion Dharam Vir Sharma; head teacher of the secondary school, Marc Arrisol; chairperson of the Diabetics Society of Seychelles, Dr Murthy Pillay and representatives from the Ministry of Education, Mont Fleuri secondary school and SCWLC.

The boys and girls chosen for the awareness session and diabetes tests were those who look obese. Petrica Bastienne, an S3 student, said she had answered the call for the awareness session as she wanted to know what her diabetic status was even though she has had diabetic test before and it was negative.  

She added that it is good for students her size to participate in such sessions to know if they are suffering from diabetes or not.

She noted that even though she has a sweet tooth, she controls her diet.

In his opening remarks to launch the awareness session, Mr Luhar said given that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared diabetes as the number one killer disease in the world, it is very important that people get to do their tests to know their status.

As children are considered influence of change, Mr Luhar called on the students to go out and be diabetic ambassadors and educate fellow students, friends, family members and others in the community on why it is important to fight diabetics together.

He noted he was very grateful that our country has many partners teaming up to fight diabetes.

As for head teacher Arrisol, he said the school was very fortunate to have community members such as SWCLC who recognise that imparting awareness and early screening of such medical condition is mandatory to save lives or prevent more severe medical conditions.

He noted that we ought to take ownership of our health as echoed by the Ministry of Health, and embrace it to guarantee a higher life expectancy.

For her part, the president of SWCLC, Mrs Kannan, said diabetes is one of the five concerns of the Lions club along with childhood cancer, vision, environment and hunger programmes.

She noted that they had wanted to serve the community of students and teachers by screening their glucose level.  She thanked Dr Murthy for the free diabetic screening.

Regina Prosper, director of health and safety at the Ministry of Education, said some youngsters as young as primary school age are having diabetic issues and such diabetic test and education awareness of doing the tests is very important, especially for parents who at times feel very worried even to do the test as they do not want to hurt their children.

During the launch of the diabetic awareness and testing session, Dr Murthy was recognised for his contributions in the fight against diabetes in the country. He was also presented with a donation of diabetic kits for the Seychelles Diabetic Association. 

The session was marked by a poem and a sketch by the students and a keynote address on diabetes awareness by Dr Murthy.

Diabetes occurs as a result of too much sugar in the blood stream which can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

Lion Swapna Gopal from the SWCLC has been appointed as the Lions district officer for diabetes in Seychelles.  She said the club will continue with the diabetes awareness sessions in other schools.

She added that with a change in diet and lifestyle among children, this will result in a society with less diabetics in the future.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the awareness session at the Mont Fleuri secondary school.

Patrick Joubert