A diabetes education program run by the Centretown Community Health Centre will be getting a boost after $6 million in diabetes support funding was announced by Canada’s health minister Tuesday.
The money is heading to seven national and 30 regional projects to help them better prevent and manage diabetes and those dealing with its secondary effects. It is drawn from the $18 million a year Ottawa spends on the Canadian Diabetes Strategy.
Just under $500,000 of the funding is heading to a Canadian Diabetes Association initiative to shore up the resources of health providers who help people at high risk of Type 2 diabetes.
The CCHC will benefit from the diabetes group’s bolstered finances, since the national association works in partnership with the CCHC on its community diabetes education program.
“It’s great to see them and other community groups receive this investment that will strengthen our collaborative efforts to address this growing problem,” CCHC executive director Simone Thibault said in a statement.
The program sends nurses and dieticians to educate and support adults with diabetes at community health centres across the city.
Nearly nine million Canadians have been diagnosed with diabetes or have some of the disease’s symptoms, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association. Almost all of the diagnosed suffer from Type 2 diabetes, caused by high blood-sugar levels.