Rédiab Ylang 976 launches diabetes screening campaign in all 17 communes of Mayotte

Rédiab Ylang 976 brought health professionals together on Monday, 2 November, to relaunch the fight against diabetes in Mayotte. The meeting kicks off awareness and prevention efforts aimed at the island's population.

A campaign led by the ARS

According to Le Journal de Mayotte, the meeting was held in Mamoudzou as part of Diabetes Month 2026. Its aim was to take stock of how the disease is developing on the island and to prepare a screening campaign run by ARS Mayotte. The campaign is due to reach all 17 communes through June 2027.

A medical conference open to everyone

According to Mayotte Hebdo, the conference took place at the Centre régional de coordination des dépistages des cancers de Mayotte. It drew health professionals, midwives, doctors and representatives of the ARS. About a hundred people attended, many of them with relatives who have diabetes. The meeting also marked the start of events around World Diabetes Day, scheduled for 14 November.

Mounya Inzoudine, coordinator for prevention, nutrition and diabetes, explained that the initiative was justified by how common the disease is on the island: « C’esr important pour nous, aujourd’hui, au Rédiab Ylang 976, de sensibiliser, de dépister et d’éduquer au diabète, au regard de sa prévalence à Mayotte ».

The dietitian's advice

Julia Degert, a dietitian with Rédiab Ylang 976, went through the eating habits to favour. She recommends vegetables, particularly leafy greens such as mafana and mufungué, as well as salad and carrots. In her view, frozen vegetables are a good alternative: "vegetables will help lower the risk of diabetes and other diseases."

Meals should combine these vegetables with protein: meat, fish, eggs or chicken, preferably chicken breast rather than wings, which are fattier because of the skin. Lentils, pigeon peas and kidney beans are suitable too. "This will help maintain muscle," she explains.

On starchy foods (rice, potatoes, cassava, taro, bananas), she cautions: "Starchy foods provide slow-release sugars, which the body digests more gradually. They therefore supply energy more steadily. But be careful not to eat too much of them, because even slow-release sugars can increase the risk of diabetes."

With so many sugary drinks being consumed on the island, she suggests sparkling water or water with freshly squeezed lemon: "These are less sugary alternatives. The idea is to cut back on sugary drinks little by little, without trying to stop everything overnight."