The enemy within

Dangers of lupus

THE urgency is real for Fijians to be educated on the dangers of lupus — a disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks a person’s own tissues and organs.

Lupus Foundation Fiji director Una Tuitubou noted this while stressing the need for Fijians to work together to be made aware of this sickness which has taken so many lives.

“As you know — the high risk group for lupus are ‘women of child-bearing age from 14-45 years of age’ and is prevalent in people of colour and of Asian descent,” Ms Tuitubou said.

“However, we should not forget to make mention that men and children younger than 14 years suffer from this disease as well.

“Last year, in a matter of two days, families of two patients ( one in Nadi and the other Lautoka ) reached out to us seeking help and both women passed away in a matter of one week, so on the ground, we see that the urgency is real.”

Ms Tuitubou said it was appropriate they had set up an awareness and fundraising campaign this year with the theme, “Caring for Lupus”.

She added there was a great need to carry out awareness on the disease that was still presumably considered rare by many in the Fijian community.

“On the physical aspect (medical), we have doctors and associated paramedics like physiotherapists, dietitians, nurses, palliative care nurses, etc, and the spiritual aspect (faithbased organisations) which we are hoping to bring on this platform.

“So we can all start talking about how we can best work together, to support our warriors (survivors) by educating all the stakeholders to rise up and take care of this great need in our communities today.”