Diabetes Takes Its Toll in Territory

Julia Sheen, executive director of the Diabetes Center of Excellence, testified Wednesday at the Committee on Health, Hospitals, and Human Services hearing that the territory has a dialysis crisis, and a high percentage of the territory’s population is susceptible to diabetes.

She said people of color have a higher rate of the disease than Caucasians, closer to 14 percent to the Caucasian rate of 12 percent. She said pockets of poverty experience even higher rates. Although all the data is not available, she said the number of Virgin Islanders suffering from the disease is more than 12,000.

The Diabetes Center of Excellence, a non-profit organization, opened in 2020 to address the diabetes situation in the Virgin Islands through health promotion, patient education, treatment, and research.

Other speakers joined her in emphasizing that education was vital to managing the increasing number of residents who have diabetes. Also advocated were efforts from government officials, public institutions, and individuals to pitch in to prevent the disease and treat those already suffering.