Republic Bank Renews Commitment In Diabetes Fight

Bridgetown – For the third consecutive year, Republic Bank in partnership with the Diabetes Association of Barbados has made the Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) available for World Diabetes Day, November 14th.

Barbadians passing through or living and working in the Warrens area were tested for diabetes by the volunteers of the Unit, which was stationed from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the new Warrens branch of Republic Bank, now located at Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael.

General Manager, Retail Banking for Republic Bank, Sharon Zephirin says: “the Bank is enthusiastic about the work of the Mobile Testing Unit and plans to extend its reach geographically to meet the needs of the populations most affected by the disease”.

“As the International Diabetes Foundation launches the World Diabetes Day 2016 campaign under the theme Eyes on Diabetes, Republic Bank is committed to aligning with its two key messages. First, in the screening of type 2 diabetes and its importance in modifying the course of the disease and in reducing the risk of cmplications; And secondly, in screening for diabetes complications as an essential part of managing type 1 and type 2 diabetes.”

Further Ms. Zephirin says this alignment should hopefully see an increase in the number of events attended by the MTU in the future.

Since the inception of the Mobile Unit in 2013, over 4600 persons have been screened for high blood sugar at 187 events. The association, in a recent report credited Republic Bank for its support in helping to increase the number of Barbadians being screened. The report noted that while the monthly rate of events attended by the Mobile Unit decreased slightly for 2015-2016 in comparison with the previous reporting period, the Unit was still well above the overall annual average of 4.7 events per month.

“More importantly, we are on track to screen more persons in 2016 in comparison to the previous year. Almost thirteen hundred persons were screened during the entire calendar year of 2015, while we have almost matched that amount over just 9 months, and the number of persons screened for diabetes has increased by 13% over the previous reporting period. This is testimony to the great work of our volunteers and outreach of the Diabetes Association of Barbados that would not be possible without the support provided.”