Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan together with the Manila Health Department (MHD) conducted a diabetic screening for 7,418 students in Manila on World Diabetes Day, Tuesday, Nov. 14.
The senior high school students from Pres. Sergio Osmeña High School, Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST), and Claro M. Recto High School had their blood sugar tested during the screening.
“Ngayong araw ipinagdiriwang natin ang World Diabetes Day, at dahil dito ang inyong pamahalaan, ang lungsod ng Maynila at ng MHD ay nakapag-isip na lahat ng ating mga Grade 12 students kagaya ninyo sa buong ka-maynilaan ay mabigyan natin ng blood sugar screening (Today we celebrate World Diabetes Day, and because of this, the city of Manila and the MHD have thought that all our Grade 12 students like you all over Manila should be given blood sugar screening),” Mayor Honey said.
The screening was provided to the students for free.
The mayor expressed gratitude to the students’ parents for allowing their children to undergo the screening.
She said screening targets the students whose relatives have diabetes, as there can be a greater chance that they may also have the disease.
She said that it is better to know early whether the students are positive for diabetes so it can be treated early and avoid dialysis.
“Kapag nag-positive po kayo sa screening na ito ay gagawa pa ulit ng isa pang test sa inyo at kapag nakita na may diabetes kayo, maaga namin kayong magagamot. Maaga natin maiiwasan ang mga komplikasyon ng diabetes, isa na po rito 'yung pag-dialysis (If you test positive in this screening, we will do another test on you, and if it is found that you have diabetes, we will treat you early. We can prevent the complications of diabetes early, dialysis is one of them),” Lacuna-Pangan said.
The city mayor said that based on the data gathered by the city health department, the number of young people who have diabetes has increased over the months.