Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says Fijians suffer from diabetes well above the global average and knowing the risk that is posed by COVID-19, Fiji has acted quickly to keep the virus at bay.
While speaking during the virtual launch of a new initiative called the “Global Diabetes Compact” by the World Health Organization, Bainimarama says around 15% of our population are diagnosed with a type of diabetes and Fiji loses out on over $400 million a year in productivity.
The Prime Minister says our people lose more than 264,000 years of healthy living due to Non-Communicable Diseases.
He says the coronavirus preys on those who are vulnerable and few live with the crushing fear of contracting COVID-19 like those living with diabetes.
Bainimarama further says, it took us 30 days to contain our outbreak of COVID-19, and this month marks one full year since our last local case.
The Prime Minister says NCDs are a crisis that will take far longer than a single month, a single year, or even a medical marvel, like a vaccine to defeat diseases like diabetes.
He says instead we must change hearts and minds across society by raising awareness about how we stop this disease from stealing so much from our people.
Bainimarama also says they are equipping our health facilities to offer better and more affordable health care to Fijians living with diabetes and other NCDs.
He says the economic crisis that has come with the pandemic puts all that work at-risk and the sooner we get our people vaccinated, the sooner we bring our tourism-driven economy back to life.
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