A nurse at ELWA Hospital for over 20 years, Romelle has become the NCD focal person for the hospital's diabetes clinic, during the national NCD programme funded by WDF. Yet she has done much more to enable more people living in low-resource settings to get access to diabetes prevention and care.
Romelle Sua Hunter has been working as a nurse at ELWA Hospital, in Monrovia, for 20 years and she has been actively involved in diabetes prevention and care activities.
In the beginning, the 52-year-old nurse had the support of various healthcare professionals working in Liberia through different programmes rolled out by international organisations. She has helped with the organisation of a diabetes self-support group at the hospital, which led to an increase in the cases of diabetes at the hospital. ‘We called the patients and told them more about diabetes and proper diet, we gave education on the complications,' she remembers.
In 2017, Romelle had the opportunity to get training at Ganta Hospital (GUMH). This has helped her and other colleagues to open a clinic for patients with diabetes at ELWA Hospital, because of the urgent need for one.
‘We opened this unit as a diabetes clinic and continued to raise awareness and have the support group. We started getting doctors involved, we started getting nurses involved.’
Members of the group started to help each other with medication and strips, as systemic barriers persisted in the country. Accessibility and affordability of diabetes treatment continue to be major challenges. Therefore, the 2020 nationwide NCD response led by the Liberia Ministry of Health, which also provided free medication and testing, has been of great help to people across the country.
‘For every patient admitted from other wards, the hospital ensures they come to the clinic and are taught what to do: eat this, limit this, do more exercise’, says Romelle.
The nurse is actively visiting other communities to increase access to better prevention and care for more people living in low-resource settings, besides her work and the diabetes support group.
‘I introduced myself as a nurse trained in diabetes at ELWA Hospital. I told them I wanted to organise free testing for the community because some people don't know they have diabetes. And people welcomed the idea. When they are diagnosed, I encourage them to come to the hospital or any facility where there is an NCDI clinic.’
To promote more opportunities for healthy living through proper nutrition and physical exercise, Romelle is also encouraging people to do gardening.
‘We can do backyard gardening, plant greens and other things, all this is part of the education; don't wait for donors to come and plant a garden for you', Romelle adds. 'You go ahead and plant for yourself’.
She is also well aware of the power of setting an example, even when it comes to health. ‘Where I live, I plant a lot of greens. If you are telling people to do it, you should first be an example, sitting here and just educating is not enough. And we must reach the many other communities where more awareness is needed,' she adds.
‘In the hospital, we see a lot of amputations because they do not know they have diabetes. Patients come here sometimes, we transfer them to the doctor, and they go to the emergency room. And after a week, you would see that person with an amputated foot.
We need more awareness. When we get to communities, even on the radio, when we have jingles and other things, people get to know that diabetes is real and has many complications.’
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Since 2009, WDF has supported several projects in Liberia aiming for improved diabetes and related NCD prevention and care: WDF09-0483, WDF15-1273, and WDF17-1488. These projects have progressively led to the launch of the first nationwide NCD response, WDF20-1743, completed in 2024.