Maori take action on diabetes

By RENEE KIRIONA


Delena Marsh will have diabetes for the rest of her life but there is still hope for her son Tame Moana and thousands of other Maori who have joined the country's largest crackdown on the disease.

Mr Moana might be fit now as the captain of one of Waikato's best league teams, but with two diabetic parents he knows his chances of developing the disease are high.

Over the next three years he and about 7000 other non-diabetic Maori adults from the Waikato, Thames-Coromandel and Taupo could undergo a big lifestyle change.

They will be involved in the Te Wai O Rona Diabetes Prevention Strategy which is designed to prevent the disease in high-risk Maori adults.

Maori have the second-highest rate of diabetes in the world, with one in three adults diagnosed..

If not managed properly the disease can lead to blindness, kidney failure, cardiovascular disease and early death.

In the $4.6 million project, organisers hope all 24,000 non-diabetic Maori in the target areas will be screened within a year and 7000 will get lifestyle advice, counselling and coaching.

But getting Maori men in their twenties, like Mr Moana, in for screening is not easy.

"I suppose a lot of men that age think they are invincible but I'm doing it because I know we aren't," he said.

"I don't want to be a burden on anyone. I've got kids that I want to watch grow."

The project is run by Professor David Simmons, of the University of Auckland's Waikato Clinical School, and district health boards and Maori health providers in the target areas. If successful, it will be extended nationwide.

While Ms March was relieved her son was on the programme, she said many Maori preferred not to know whether they had diabetes.

"I want as many people as possible to get themselves screened but the attitudes out there are amazing,"she said. "I've come across five elderly Maori so far who have chosen not to know because they fear needles."


For Yogi Martin, of Thames, living with diabetes is a struggle.

"I advise any Maori who is diabetic to get involved with this programme because they will not want to have to do the things I have to every day."

It is hoped the strategy will reduce new cases of diabetes by 35 per cent.