Today, the Principal Secretary for Administration Bestone Chisamile presided over the commemoration of World Diabetes Day at Mpotola primary school ground, Senior Chief Makwangwala in Ntcheu district under the theme ‘Diabetes: know your risk, know your response’.

In his speech, Mr Chisamile said the Ministry continues scaling up establishment of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) clinics in most health facilities using an approach recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) to improve the access to diabetes care and treatment.

Through PEN-PLUS interventions, the Ministry is building health workforce capacity in secondary level facilities to manage even complicated NCDs including diabetes thereby reducing unnecessary referrals to central hospitals.

Mr Chisamile, however, called on stakeholders in the health sector to support government in helping patients with diabetes in rural areas, stressing the efficiency in filling the gap amongst patients in rural areas.

He emphasized that government alone cannot manage to support every person suffering from diabetes but needs collaborative effort between government and stakeholders.

On his part, Inkosi Makwangwala applauded government and it’s partners for their continued efforts in fighting diabetes saying this has encouraged more people to get tested and hence recieve proper medical care.

On arrival, the principal secretary held a solidarity march from the trading center to the ground. He also visited pavilions that were set up to appreciate various services being offered by partners in the health sector.