Mary Nnah
Health professionals have agreed that one of the ways to ensure access to diabetes care is that government and private sector stakeholders must ensure compulsory blood sugar testing the same way patients are being screened for blood pressure when they seek the services of health experts.
They insisted that in order to curb the increase in diabetes and ensure adequate management of the medical condition, as well as solve the perennial statistical challenges in the actual number of those living with diabetes, the health experts advocated mandatory blood sugar testing in hospitals, clinics, chemist shops and pharmacies for all patients despite illness.
The call was made at the 2021 World Diabetes Day (WDD) awareness campaign theme: “Access to diabetes care: if not now, when?” organised by ISN Medical at Gbagada General Hospital, Gbagada, Lagos.
Speaking at the 2021 WDD commemoration event,, General Manager Diabetes Care Unit ISN Medical, Mrs. Ify Chioke said that management of diabetes would be made easier if the government and other stakeholders make testing of all patients for blood sugar mandatory.
“We have noticed that five to seven per cent of those we have tested in recent times have come down with diabetes and many of them never knew they have high blood sugar, adding that in most cases, like we have experienced in a programme with Access Bank in Enugu, Abuja and Lagos where many recorded over 400 blood sugar reading,” she said.
According to her, ISN Medical has begun to work with government, hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and laboratories by providing free testing kits to encourage compulsory testing of blood sugar in these health facilities.
She stated that “We are working with government and private hospitals and labs to make testing of blood sugar compulsory for every patient that comes in.
” We also have a programme running with pharmacies such that we provide them with free testing kits to empower them to test every single patient that comes into their facilities.”
The Chief Medical Director of Gbagada General Hospital, Dr. Segun Babafemi who commended ISN Medical for leading the charge in creating awareness on Diabetes said that apart from free testing for blood sugar, he advocates for compulsory testing of blood sugar the same way blood pressure is being carried out in all health facilities across the country.
“I will very much advocate that any adult who comes into your hospital, labs, clinic or pharmacy should undergo a compulsory blood sugar test. Here in Gbagada General Hospital, we have made it mandatory for every adult to be tested before you are attended to, and this is done whether you complain about the symptoms or not,” he added.
He urged the government to further weigh in by using the instrumentality government to ensure promulgation while private practice should ensure the support of the government by enforcing this. “If this is done, we will begin to have a clearer picture in terms of accurate data on diabetes and management of the disease could be far easier.”
Chioke who disclosed that ISN Medical had estimated to test over 500 people at the 2021 WDD event at Gbagada General Hospital, said that “We know from world record that about five to seven percent of population is living with diabetes but the issue that we have in Nigeria is that a lot of people don’t test, and because they don’t their status adequate data is impossible.”
She encouraged Nigerians to embrace blood sugar testing saying that “people who have parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers who are living with diabetes also have higher risk, those who do sedentary work like banking also have a tendency to come down with diabetes.
“We are preaching that families should purchase testing kits and test regularly because if diabetes is discovered early patients have chances of living a healthy and long life too.”
Director of Physiotherapy Services, Gbagada General Hospital, Mr. Ayo Oni who took fitness exercise at the event and spoke about the importance of physiotherapy in the management of diabetes stated that “Physiotherapy has a key role to play in the management of diabetes, prevention in terms of maintenance and also curative. There are various dimensions of managing diabetes, diet, physical activity such as exercise then the drugs and the importance of consultant can’t be overemphasised,” he said.
The physiotherapist said “Exercise is key to prevent diabetes and also to manage it because when you engage in exercise, it helps blood circulation, it keeps your organs at the maximum level, and it helps to take out lots of sugar from the system.
“Therefore, the importance of exercise cannot be overemphasised and we need to make it part of our lifestyle because lifestyle modification is key in managing diabetes and also to promote better healthcare for those people who are not sufferers of diabetes.”
