BETWEEN DIABETES AND WELL-BEING
All the major stakeholders should do more to reduce the burden
In choosing ‘Diabetes and well-being” as theme for the 2025 World Diabetes Day, with a campaign slogan of “know more and do more for diabetes at work”, the idea is to focus on the challenges faced by those managing the disease.
More than 11 million Nigerians are reportedly living with the disease. It is therefore important that the federal government and other stakeholders address this huge burden by taking more seriously a recent warning by the World Health Organisation (WHO) about the growing prevalence of the disease in Nigeria. It is also important that those who nurse the disease in the country keep regular follow-up appointments with their doctors, take medications as prescribed and make certain lifestyle changes.
For clarity, diabetes is a chronic disease that the body builds up because it is no longer able to regulate the sugar it takes in, thereby leading to several other illnesses, and in some cases, death. This silent killer has been linked to stroke, kidney diseases, heart disease, vision loss, amputations, bone disease, depression, among others. And by not fully integrating the disease into primary healthcare, access to care is harder. Most primary health facilities in the country have no budget or medication for diabetics, and worse still, the few diabetics specialists in the country have been deployed to secondary and tertiary facilities, taking them further away from communities where their expertise is needed. Meanwhile, the disease is gradually sweeping across all age groups and social divide in the country.
In Nigeria, according to experts, many factors have spurred the increase in the number of patients, chief among them is cost of management. In 2011, the average cost of treatment for diabetes for the year was N60,000, while ten years later in 2021, it had jumped to about N300,000. Market survey has shown that treatment now requires much more at a time most Nigerians are facing hard times. This has made many to stop treatment of the disease or resort to unscientific methods which may be harmful to their body.
In a country where over 129 million persons are living below the poverty line, not many people can afford diabetes medication, which effectively means majority of diabetics will have to suffer the associated complications and eventually die from it. For middle class Nigerians, it is only a matter of time before the out-of-pocket payment for drugs pushes them into poverty. For the poor, their fate is already decided. Apart from placing subsidy on diabetes medication, the government should wholly include diabetes care into insurance packages. To ensure that poor diabetics benefit from the insurance – since most poor people are not under any insurance scheme in the country – government should prioritise enrolling them into the nation’s health insurance scheme for the purpose of halting out -of- pocket payment for medication.
Stakeholders should also consider integrating diabetes care into primary health as this will not only eliminate the accessibility issue but will ensure that timely care is provided. Government, at all levels, should take a clue from the International Federation of Diabetes and WHO that have designated diabetes as a public health emergency. By that action it will get the deserved funding and quicker decision in addressing the constraints in managing it in the country. Also, the citizens have a role to play in addressing the disease.
On preventive measures, experts have said lifestyle is the key determinant to having diabetes or not. Eating healthy, exercising regularly, limiting sugar intakes, avoiding processed foods are some of the recommended options to reduce the risks associated with the disease. Together, the government, health experts, and the citizens must play their roles to reduce the high prevalence of this public health concern that claims the lives of thousands of our people every day.
