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AS the global community commemorates the 2024 World Diabetes Day, themed, “Breaking barriers, bridging gaps,” federal, state, and local governments, various health stakeholders and individuals need to step up their actions to bridge the gaps in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of diabetes.
Since 2007 when November 14 was designated by the UN General Assembly as the WDD, it has provided an opportunity to underpin individual and collective “commitment to reducing the risk of diabetes and ensuring that all people who are diagnosed with diabetes have access to equitable, comprehensive, affordable and quality treatment and care,” according to the WHO.
Diabetes, a chronic, metabolic disease characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose, has been noted by health experts to lead to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves over time. This morbid potential has been at the bane of the WHO’s global agreed target to halt the rise in diabetes and obesity by 2025.
Sadly, about 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low- and middle-income countries; 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year. The condition has reached epidemic proportions globally.
Nigeria, according to a report by the International Diabetes Federation, is one of the 48 countries in the African region with a high rate of diabetes representing 37 per cent of the population as of 2021. Another estimate given by leading physicians has disclosed that over 11 million citizens are living with diabetes. This is an epidemic. The reality is that Nigerians are afflicted with many other diseases.
Identified as type 1 and 2, the symptoms of diabetes may occur suddenly and may take many years to be noticed. These symptoms include feeling very thirsty, needing to urinate more often than usual, blurred vision, and losing weight unintentionally.
Diabetes can cause permanent vision loss by damaging blood vessels in the eyes. Many people with diabetes develop problems with their feet from nerve damage and poor blood flow. This can cause foot ulcers and may lead to amputation.
For people living with diabetes, early diagnosis, and access to affordable treatment, including insulin, are critical to their survival.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian healthcare landscape is challenged by limited access to medical care, rising treatment costs, and a lack of comprehensive diabetes education, leaving many patients struggling with their conditions.
Coupled with the inflated prices of medicines and sky dollar exchange rate, the prices of insulin, glucometers and test strips have skyrocketed, creating an unsustainable burden for many.
Governments and stakeholders need to tackle the problems stifling Nigeria’s health sector, subsidise the cost of diabetic management, and provide more incentives, training, and conducive environments for more health workers to reverse the brain drain challenging the healthcare system.
Private organisations, corporate bodies, faith-based organisations, and health agencies should step up public sensitisation on the factors that can predispose people to diabetes which include diet, habits, lifestyle choices, age, and genes.
Digital tools that are designed to support and provide people with diabetes with tools to monitor and manage their condition more effectively need to be more accessible to the populace.