At the weekend, TV 2 told about Kristin Hansen, who got chafing on a walk and ended up having to have both legs amputated.
She is in the same situation as many others.
LOST BOTH: In two months, Kristin Hansen underwent 22 operations, which ended with a double leg amputation. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
Every year around 500 Norwegians with diabetes have to amputate a toe, foot or leg. In other words, this affects one or more people, every single day.
– I am frustrated and provoked, says Bård Hoksrud (Frp).
– Terrible
As spokesperson for health policy in the FRP, he has long been involved in this issue. He is frustrated because he believes the government is doing too little to reduce the high number of amputations.
– It is hopeless when the only thing they come up with is that they have extended the diabetes strategy and will present a new strategy during 2024. It is just talk, but very little actually happens, says Hoksrud.
CONCERNED: By working preventively, we can save millions of tax kroner, as well as prevent many personal ailments, Hoksrud believes. Photo: Goran Jorganovich / TV 2
He is clear that it is urgent to do something more.
– It is terrible for all the 500 who have to undergo an amputation every year. The amputations also cost society half a billion annually. It is much cheaper if we had worked preventively, as you can see working in Sweden.
Big costs
In our neighboring country, they have systematized the foot health of diabetics, which has produced obvious results. This has led to them halving the number of amputations.
– One amputation costs around one million kroner. In addition, there are enormous costs linked to sickness absence, lost productivity and disability. Think how much money, and not least how much pain, we could have saved the individual if we had invested in prevention as in Sweden, says Hoksrud.
KN AVOIDED: Kristin Hansen gets angry when she thinks that amputation could have been avoided for many, if there was more focus on preventive work. Photo: Ingvild Gjerdsjø / TV 2
Recently resigned State Secretary Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt in the Ministry of Health and Care agrees that there are impressive figures Sweden can show.
– But they have a completely different way of organizing the health service, with interdisciplinary care centres, and that they have a slightly different way of following up chroniclers. We want to develop the general practitioner scheme in Norway in that direction, says Krat Bjørkholt.
– Must prevent
Tove Elise Madland (Ap) in the health and care committee says that Kristin Hansen’s story is unfortunately one of many.
– To prevent this development, we must work both with prevention and public health. We are well underway with the work, but we also have a lot left, says Madland.
WANT TO PREVENT: Tove Elise Madland believes that prevention and public health are important keywords for preventing amputations. Photo: Stortinget
In February, she invited the Diabetes Association and the Foot Therapy Association to the Storting, to discuss precisely the foot health of diabetes patients and how we can reduce the number of amputations.
– It is obvious that this work has to be put into a system, and we have to work with many parts at the same time. Podiatrists have important expertise, which we must take advantage of in a comprehensive plan, says the health politician.