New diabetes centre at Groote Schuur Hospital

In a first of its kind for Africa, Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has launched its state-of-the-art Diabetes Centre.

According to the provincial health department, the centre aims to promote a culture of excellence in diabetes-related primary healthcare in the Western Cape.

At the launch on Monday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, who is a type 2 diabetic himself, emphasised the importance of the centre, the first public healthcare centre of its kind on the continent.

“The pandemic has undoubtedly had a significant impact on our province’s ability to render primary healthcare services to patients who suffer from illnesses including diabetes.

“We must begin to get our healthcare platform back on track as we recover and move forward,” he said.

According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), over the next two decades, Africa will see a projected increase of 143% of people living with diabetes.

It stated in South Africa, 4.6 million people are living with diabetes.

According to the head of department of endocrinology at Groote Schuur Hospital, Professor Joel Dave, diabetes is the second most common cause of death in South Africa, just behind tuberculosis.

“Data from the Western Cape shows that 43% of all those with Covid-19 requiring admission to hospital were people living with diabetes and 23% of all deaths from Covid-19 were people living with diabetes,” Dave said.

The centre will be providing services such as a diabetes clinic which will focus on type 1 diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy, diabetes in special situations, a specialised Diabetes Foot Clinic, and patient and healthcare workers education.

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