The Ministry of Health has launched a Community Nutrition Technician Training Programme, as it seeks to to tackle Non-Communicable Diseases in the country.
For a period of six months, the first batch of 20 Community Nutrition Technicians will undergo extensive training, which will cover the four modules of Introduction to Nutrition and Public Health, Nutrition for Disease Prevention and Management, Food Science and Health Applications, and Practical Attachment and Field Training.
The aim is to have the Nutrition Technicians provide nutritional guidance and support to Guyanese, including those living with chronic diseases.
Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, said the Training Programme will see the technicians working along with Health Centres across the country to assist in the management of chronic diseases.
“We have more than 20,000 people with diabetes. We have maybe, a similar amount of persons with diabetes and hypertension. So, these are a combination of chronic diseases, and once you have these types of diseases, if you don’t manage them properly, you will end up with complications. So, someone who is diabetic, for example, if they are not managing their blood sugar, then they could end up with, maybe, an amputation of their toes, eventually it leads to amputating maybe more of the joint or the limb. And in some cases, if they don’t manage it well, they end up with problems with their kidneys, eventually; they get kidney failure, probably need dialysis. Some persons with diabetes, they end up going blind,” Minister Anthony said.
Dr. Anthony said it is important for citizens to manage their health, and one way of doing so is through healthy eating.
He said the Community Nutrition Technicians will help those living with non-communicable diseases to manage the diseases.
The Health Minister warned the technicians that the task ahead could be difficult.
“We have found that when we try to change peoples’ attitudes and behaviours, that is very difficult. So, if for someone’s whole lifetime they have been socialized to eat a certain way, and now that they are getting sick, or they are coming to the health centre and we see that they are at risk for a certain disease; to try and change that mindset might be extremely difficult. So, apart from knowing the technical things is to ensure you work with them very closely so they can adhere to the advice that you are giving them,” the Health Minister said.
Director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Unit, Dr Latchmie Lall, explained that with a rise in non-communicable diseases, the technicians will be tasked with developing dedicated nutritional plans for patients.
“We have seen overtime that even though our doctors are able to provide some amount of counseling to patients, there is the need for us to have dedicated plans for patients, particularly those patients that were diagnosed and having a hard time getting control of their disease, particularly in the area diabetes. And one of the good things that this programme will do, it looks at nutrition over the life course of the patient. So, it is not just for the older patient, and the patients who are diagnosed but starting with younger patients as well,” Lall said.
Lalls said while this is just the first batch, she looks forward to the country having an army of nutritionists, who will work side by side with doctors and nurses at the more than 400 health facilities across the country to better manage their patients.
Acting Director of Food Policy, Gillian Trim explained that the Community Nutrition Technicians Training Programme is being rolled out by the Department of Health Sciences Education in partnership Primary Healthcare Services and the Non-Communicable Diseases Units. It puts together trainees from Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, who will undergo the six-month training programme.
