GSK, Amref to Empower Women for World Diabetes Day

Tuesday, 14 November, 2017

Johannesburg, 14 November 2017 – GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Amref Health Africa in South Africa, (Amref), in conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH), have formed a partnership to empower communities to take action for sustainable health improvement.

November 14th commemorates World Diabetes Day, which is the primary global awareness campaign focusing on Diabetes Mellitus. The theme for this year is: “Women and Diabetes: Our right to a healthy future”.

The International Diabetic Federation has estimated that over 199 million women globally are living with Diabetes diabetes. These projections indicate that numbers will increase to 313 million women by 2040. Diabetes is the ninth leading cause of death in women globally, causing 2.1 million deaths each year. Because of socioeconomic conditions, girls and women with diabetes experience barriers in accessing cost-effective diabetes prevention, early detection, diagnoses along with treatment and care, particularly in developing countries.

As part of GSK’s commitment to make a positive contribution to the communities in which they operate, Amref Health Africa and the GDoH will facilitate on-the-ground support with free Diabetes diabetes screening tests on World Diabetes Day in the Ekurhuleni Health District in Tembisa, Johannesburg.

“We strongly believe that women and girls must be empowered with equitable access to knowledge and resources that will strengthen their capacity to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 Diabetes, and influence the adoption of healthier lifestyles to improve the health and wellbeing of those around them and that of future generations,” says Mr. Davies Gichuhi, General Manager, GSK Southern Africa-Pharma.

Furthermore, GSK invests in health and education programmes and partnerships that aim to bring sustainable improvements to under-served people in the developed parts of South Africa. From 2016 until 2019, GSK has committed 28twenty eight million Rand per annum, over a three-year period, for the “Health Worker Training Project” which aims at improving the quality of maternal and child health services in a range of projects, in four provinces.

Also known as “train-the-trainer”, the programme is accredited by Amref Health Africa, and allows unemployed youth an opportunity to receive skills and, in turn, use that knowledge to transform the perception and awareness of Diabetes diabetes within the community. The unemployed youth who qualify for this programme will be trained as Community Healthcare Workers who will educate communities about Nonnon-communicable diseases through health campaigns.

“Amref Health Africa is committed to improving the health of people in Africa by partnering with and empowering communities, and strengthening health systems. The partnership with GSK really speaks to this vision as we look forward to providing free Diabetes diabetes screening tests to the community in the Ekurhuleni Health District, along with empowering members to better safeguard their health and wellbeing,” concluded Professor Stellah Anyangwe, a Board Member of Amref South Africa.