GENERAL practitioners and nurses of Region Three were the beneficiaries of a one-day workshop on diabetic retinopathy, which was organised by the Ophthalmology Department of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

The one-day exercise which was hosted at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) was the third of its kind.

According to GPHC’s Ophthalmology Department, the programme aimed to increase awareness about diabetic complications of the eye, which are known as diabetic retinopathy.
The Ophthalmology Department is the coordinating stakeholder of the Guyana Diabetic Retinopathy Programme of the Ministry of Public Health’s Guyana Diabetes Care Project.
The Guyana programme aims to introduce screening and treatment of diabetic eye disease in the public system.

“This programme is funded by the World Diabetes Foundation and has multiple stakeholders assisting in the execution of the project such as the University of Toronto and Orbis International,” said the department.

Fifty two health care professionals, including 27 doctors and 25 nurses were trained in sessions about diabetes; nutritional aspects of diabetes care; counselling of persons with diabetes; diabetes and how it affects the eye; screening for diabetic retinopathy and they were also taught how to examine the eye during practical sessions.

At the end of the workshop, participants gave positive reviews about the workshop and indicated that they were able to develop a better understanding of how diabetes affects the eye.

The training team comprised eight professionals from the GPHC and the curriculum/agenda of the workshop was developed by the Ophthalmology Department.

Similar workshops were held last year at the Suddie Regional Hospital, Essequibo, in Region Two and at Project Dawn on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).