Three million Nigerians are living
with diabetes even as the figure is growing daily, Prof. Christopher Alebiosu,
the Coordinator, Strategies for Improving Diabetes Care in Nigeria (SIDCAIN),
has stated.
Alebiosu told the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Ibadan that the figure also showed that Nigeria was
leading other African countries in diabetes affliction.
He said that Nigeria was followed
by South Africa with 1.9 million cases, while Ethiopia and Kenya had 1.4
million and 769,000 cases respectively.
Alebiosu quoted the International
Diabetes Federation (IDF) as saying that more than 366 million people have
diabetes worldwide, adding that as many as 183 million others were unaware they
had the disease.
According to him, IDF data shows
that global carriers of diabetes are expected to increase to 552 million by
2030 if no urgent action is taken.
``This equates to approximately
three new cases every 10 seconds or almost 10 million per year,’’ Alebiosu
added.
The SIDCAIN coordinator said that
limited access to healthcare and the dearth of quality diabetes education and
training of healthcare personnel were major challenges faced by Nigeria and
many other African countries.
``This has resulted in
unsatisfactory care in terms of prevention and management of persons with
diabetes.
``To achieve improved standard and
structure of diabetes care in Nigeria, there is a pressing need to train and
re-train healthcare workers in the country so as to achieve a major increase in
awareness and knowledge about diabetes, its care and prevention,’’ he said.
Alebiosu said that SIDCAIN’s
target through its activities like conferences, health talks and public
enlightenment was to significantly improve the standard of diabetes care, at
primary and secondary healthcare levels in both urban and rural areas. (NAN)
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