 Health sector organizations around the world all joined in the annual observance of World Diabetes Day on November 14th. The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Early Affairs this year kicked off activities with a speech by the Health Minister. Minister Shabbatis in his speech says this year's focus is on education and demystifying rumors. The Ministry of Health is programing the treatment of the children in these communities so that the families of these people who are in diabetes can help them treat these people. Because the pleasure of treating the children in diabetes is the care they can eat well with the families that come together to improve the situation. This is important for us to educate so that families can be educated. Family Life Educator within the Ministry, Laurentia May Law says activities will span over a period of two weeks in health clinics around the island. This year's theme is access to diabetes care, education to protect tomorrow. The areas we are focusing on are nutrition facts label. To give some indication of what that is, is when persons buy their foods in packages often time they just take it and they just start eating without even taking note of what's in it. So emphasis is placed on educating persons on what is a serving size. May Law says this year's campaign places a heavy focus on helping persons understand and balance their sugar and sodium intakes using the plate method. The activities will be interactive giving participants the opportunity to pose questions to the nurses present. Another area of focus is health literacy. Getting persons to understand what your blood sugar level reading means. So sometimes persons go to the health center and they would say they tell me my blood sugar level is high. It's good, it's bad. But to them that's all they say but they need to be educated in terms of what is high, what is low, what is good. Other activities will include a panel discussion with health officials and testimonials from the Saint Lucia Diabetic and Hypertension Association. According to data collected from 2018 to 2022, the number of registered persons over the age of 18 living with diabetes has declined. The Ministry of Health is using this year's drive to also encourage persons to register for care and monitoring at their local facilities. For the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Allergy Affairs, I'm Saint Justin.