The Role Of Diabetes As One Of The National Health Priority Areas In Singapore

National Health Priority Areas are maladies and conditions that contribute essentially to the ailment, and coming about to high social and economic factors affecting the nation. The focused-on ailments and conditions can be better tended to with fitting systems and wellbeing management plans. Medical, Health and Government bodies take health priority issues very seriously as it affects the wellbeing of the population. It is very important to raise awareness as a national concern to live a well-balanced healthy lifestyle. “Basically, to avoid conditions such as alcohol related conditions, cardiovascular diseases, child health, nutrition and malaria, diabetes, food related conditions, HIV/AIDS, injuries, maternal health, mental health, neglected tropical diseases, oral health, sexual and reproductive health, tuberculosis, and tobacco related conditions. ”

Diabetes

Among the many health conditions affecting Singapore’s population today, diabetes is one of the major health priorities in Singapore. On average, people aged between 18 to 69 years old are highly diagnosed with diabetes. The predominance of diabetes among Singapore residents has expanded throughout the decade. This is to a great extent ascribed to our maturing population as the danger of diabetes has been increasing tremendously over the years. On August 2017, National Day Rally Speech was address by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He urged Singaporeans to act to control and guard against the disease, such as by getting regular health checks, exercising, eating healthily, and cutting down on sugar and salt intake to reduce risk. One in nine Singaporeans is diagnosed with diabetes, with a higher prevalence among those who are older. For example, of those aged above 60 years of age, 3 in 10 have diabetes. Obesity is one of the causes of diabetes. Among five-year-olds, 1 in 10 is overweight. Singaporeans are also eating more as standard of living rises. Twenty years ago, Singaporeans ate, on average, 2, 100 calories every day, which is about the right amount. By 2004, it went up to 2, 400 calories. By 2010, it went up to 2, 600 calories. This is a major concern for the residents of Singapore today as it will tremendously affect the country for years to come.

Types of Diabetes

There are three main types of diabetes, Type 1 diabetes which is usually inherited through genetics and cannot be prevented or reversed, Type 2 diabetes which the most common type of diabetes and can be prevented and gestational diabetes happens during pregnancy. The following risk factors for people who are diagnosed with diabetes are aging, obesity, frequent hunger, frequent thirst, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, constant and extreme fatigue, blurred vision, wounds that heal slowly and poorly, stroke, heart and kidney failure, and blindness. According to the World Health Organization, more than 180 million people worldwide have diabetes and the number is likely to more than double by 2030. The following key areas for better wellbeing within ‘Framework of Wellbeing’:

1. Individual

For individuals, it’s always a top priority to maintain a work-life balance lifestyle. An individual is strictly not advised to overwork during office hours or perform overtime after working hours as his or her body and physical health will start to deteriorate. It’s always best to make some time to exercise after work. In other situations, most working adults have no time to even exercise these days. In such cases, they have to follow balanced diet and eat healthily. In that way, we can help to fight against diabetes better.

2. Family

For young families, we strongly encourage them to take pre-caution measures of their children and elderly parents’ nutritional diet. This will help them to maintain a well-balanced diet and good self-immune system to fight various illness or any other chronic diseases. Parents should strictly discourage them from consuming any unhealthy food or beverage which is high in calories or consumables which contain artificial flavours. It’s best if families only cook healthy food for their children and elderly parents at home and serve them. It is also best for families to regularly organise physical activities such as going for swimming classes, long walks or slow jog in the neighbourhood parks around their vicinity. Families being actively participating in sports and wellness with the family members will bring good health for the entire family to reduce the glucose level of their elderly parents and also to prevent their children from being diagnosed with diabetes in the future.

3. Community

The awareness for diabetes must be shared among people in order to better overcome this chronic illness. People with diabetes must often attend regular medical care, afford medication, and the community infrastructure that supports self-management practices. Self-management education and support have great potential to impact diabetes control in this environment.

4. Social

Individuals who consumes any type of soft drinks or even alcohol such as beer, whisky or any other kind of hard-liquor with mixers like Red Bull and other soft drinks which are very prone to gain high glucose level. It’s best to avoid alcohol or any soft drinks in our leisure lifestyle.

Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion

According to Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion is that the method of facultative individuals to extend management over and improve their health. Health is seen as a resource for lifestyle, not the target of living. Health promotion isn't simply the responsibility of the health sector, however goes on the far side healthy lifestyles to eudaimonia.

Action Areas of Ottawa Charter

1. Build Healthy Public Policy

Wellbeing advancement arrangement consolidates differing however correlative methodologies, including enactment, monetary measures, tax collection and association change. Wellbeing advancement strategy requires the identity of impediments to the reception of sound open arrangements in non-wellbeing areas and the improvement of approaches to evacuate them.

2. Create Supportive Environments

The assurance of the normal and manufactured situations, and the preservation of characteristic assets must be tended to in any wellbeing advancement technique.

3. Strengthen Community Actions

Community advancement draws on existing human and material assets to improve self-improvement and social help, and to create adaptable frameworks for fortifying open cooperation in, and course of, wellbeing matters. This requires full and persistent access to data and learning open doors for wellbeing, and in addition financing support.

4. Develop Personal Skills

Empowering individuals to learn all through life to set themselves up for the majority of its stages and to adapt to ceaseless disease and wounds is fundamental. This must be encouraged in school, home, work and network settings.

5. Reorient Health Services

The job of the wellbeing segment must move progressively in a wellbeing advancement bearing, past its duty regarding giving clinical and remedial administrations. Reorienting wellbeing administrations likewise requires more grounded consideration regarding wellbeing research, and in addition changes in proficient instruction and preparing.

Strategies to improve Health Promotion in Singapore

Health Promotion Board will be organising a Diabetes Education Campaign. With a theme of Diabetes Be-aWare, it will emphasise the seriousness of diabetes and the importance of getting screened for diabetes. This inaugural education campaign is targeted at the general population to promote the awareness that diabetes is a serious disease with severe health complications and that obesity is a major risk factor. For adults who are at risk of diabetes, the campaign will encourage early detection through regular screening. For adult patients with diabetes, the campaign will encourage optimal management of the disease through maintaining a healthy weight, going for regular check-up, and regular blood glucose monitoring and complying with a care plan. During previous years, various health promotion campaigns or health advertisements has been working efficiently. In recent years, due to the growing population of Singapore, young and middle-aged Singapore residents aren’t giving much concern on their wellbeing due to the working lifestyle they have adapted though working long working hours. In order to fight diabetes is to maintain heathy lifestyle and promote health awareness through radio channels, television commercial advertisements, schools’ health campaign and internal workplace medical check-up booths.

Conclusion

This essay highlights the importance of Diabetes as one of the National Health Priority areas which people should know how to prevent diabetes and also to take precautions measures. It provides information on how Singapore Health Promotion Board has been providing health screening for Singapore residents by creating awareness. It explains how it can affect a person in various perspectives. There can be more measurements taken to combat this issue. An example, the government could impose sugar tax. This may not sound very pleasant to most people. It’s one of the most effective ways to preventing people from consuming soft drinks or any artificial flavoured drinks. As for such policy, this might work out as people will think through whether to consume any high calories of sugar. This will restraint a lot of people and encourage them to adopt a healthier lifestyle.