Dauphin and Manitoba are joining hands to commemorate World Diabetes Awareness Day with a free and mobile blood sugar testing clinic.
The first #Dynacare4Diabetes clinic took place in Winnipeg at the St. Kateri Tekakwitha Aboriginal Church on Sunday and the next clinic is planned for Nov. 21 in Dauphin.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. you can head to the Metis Community Health Centre at 101-11 Avenue in Dauphin and Dynacare is donating 50 cents to Diabetes Canada for every A1C test in November.
“The A1C test is a screening tool to see if you’re at risk of having diabetes and it’s a way to identify those who may have diabetes but are not aware,” says Myles Duffy, Dynacare’s operations manager.
“You can go to any Dynacare (Laboratory and Health Services Centre) in Manitoba and we will provide the test free of charge.”
Duffy says diabetes has many potential complications and if you get the free test, you can avoid some big future problems.
“There are groups that are at higher risk and we are targeting those populations with mobile centres so it’s easier for them to get to and we’re bringing our team with us to these locations to try and offer the testing to these communities,” Duffy says.
Another facet of the November campaign is to identify the magnitude of diabetes in Canada.
Andrea Kwasnicki of Diabetes Canada says Manitoba has one of the highest diabetes rates per capita.
Kwaznicki says access to care is fairly good right now but more people are being diagnosed every year so the demand for care is also increasing.
“Ideally, if people have access to programs and services like the A1C test and access to physicians that can assist them, it would be an opportunity to reduce the risk factors,” Kwaznicki says.
Maples Community Centre is hosting the Nov. 28 clinic in Winnipeg from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.