The Campaign to Prevent Diabetes by Padjadjaran Nursing Corps
Jatinangor, November 16 – Padjadjaran Nursing Corps, an organization under the Student Executive Board “Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa” or BEM from the Faculty of Nursing Universitas Padjadjaran, participated in the world campaign on diabetes prevention by conducting diabetes risk screening, education, photo booth with clue circle, and fundraising for diabetes patients. This activity was also held to commemorate World Diabetes Day on November 14. This significant activity, fully supported by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences and all other faculties in Unpad, was attended by 138 visitors, from November 9 to November 14 at Gerbang Lama Unpad.
From the screening based on age, body mass index, family history of diabetes, history of hypertension, history of high blood sugar, dietary patterns, and exercise habits of 138 visitors, it was found that 70% of them had a low risk of diabetes, 24% had a slightly increased risk, 4% had an intermediate risk, and 2% had a very high risk.
Although most people have a low risk of diabetes, it does not guarantee they are not at risk. Neglecting to maintain diet, exercise, and other healthy lifestyles will allow for a higher diabetes risk. On the other hand, most attendants adiabetesitted that they were not fully aware of diabetes risks and diabetes prevention efforts. In fact, research on the families of people with diabetes who interact directly and are exposed to people with diabetes also showed more or less the same results that they did not fully perform the expected preventive behaviors, such as checking blood sugar levels, maintaining a healthy diet, and doing regular exercise. Additionally, most people still have the belief that diabetes is only suffered by “older people”. However, based on data, diabetes is also found among children and adolescents, which is allegedly closely related to the findings of obesity in toddlers. This data reinforces the importance of follow-ups in the form of increasing the intensity of education and screenings, so as to extend everyone’s awareness on the significance of prevention efforts.
In Indonesia, prevention is still a major challenge. People’s habit of waiting to get sick or for symptoms to appear first and then deciding to visit the health center or hospital causes them to feel strange if they are asked to do a health check when they are in a “healthy” condition. Changing habits is not always easy.
As of now, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Indonesia is still one of the 10 countries with the highest number of Diabetes Mellitus (diabetes) patients in the world and it is estimated that the number of diabetes patients will continue to increase, at a younger age even.
Data also shows that many people with diabetes are diagnosed late, and many of them are diagnosed accidentally or after experiencing complications. This condition makes efforts on handling and prevention of complications more difficult and prone to ineffectiveness. In addition to the increasing number, diabetes is also known to cause many negative impacts, whether that be physically, psychologically, socio-spiritually, or financially, both for patients and families.
Seeing the various impacts, it is hoped that with this campaign, every individual realizes as soon as possible the importance of checking the risk level of diabetes so that they can make treatment efforts or maintain a healthy lifestyle. If this awareness arises in the community, then late diagnosis and complications due to diabetes can be reduced.
Writer: Yohanes William Ivakdalam
Translator: Jauza Maryam Mumtazah
