WHO charges governments to invest in diabetes diagnostics and management tools
As the world commemorates World Diabetes Day (WDD) on Sunday, November 14, 2021, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, has charged governments to make key items such as insulin, blood glucometers, and test strips available to all communities.
She added that this should be accompanied by district and community-level training of health workers in non-communicable disease prevention and management in order to improve service availability.
In a post on WDD, Dr. Moeti further advised persons with diabetes to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as soon as possible to prevent themselves from serious Covid-19 sickness and death.
The international community observes World Diabetes Day on November 14 each year to raise awareness about the growing burden of diabetes, and strategies to prevent and manage it.
Speaking on the theme for this year, and until 2023, “Access to diabetes care”, Dr Moeti stated that the theme was chosen because several people still “do not have access to diagnostics, medicines and monitoring devices that could help with diabetes management”.
She said, “even when patients were diagnosed, insulin stockouts in public health facilities and the costs of insulin, result in individuals not getting the treatment they needed”.
In Ghana, Dr Moeti, disclosed that “it would take the average worker more than five days of earnings to save up for a monthly supply of insulin, in most African countries, the cost of insulin and monitoring products for diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, are paid for out of pocket by individuals and their families”.
According to the WHO, more than 19 million people in Africa have diabetes, with that figure anticipated to rise to 47 million by 2025.
“Sadly, about two-thirds of people living with diabetes in African countries are unaware of their condition,” Dr Moeti revealed.
Meanwhile, family history, age, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and the use of alcohol or cigarettes are all established risk factors for diabetes. And according to health experts, diabetes if left untreated can cause heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, lower limb amputation, visual impairment, blindness, and nerve damage, as well as erectile dysfunction.
Diabetes patients, according to Dr. Moeti, have an increased probability of having severe Covid-19 symptoms.
Furthermore, WHO surveys on access to key services during the Covid-19 pandemic suggest that diabetes care in the African Region has been seriously affected.
WHO created the Global Diabetes Compact in April 2021 to increase equal access to high-quality diabetes care.
The Compact relies on recent efforts in low-resource countries to implement the WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease (WHO PEN) initiatives for primary health care.
This package has been adopted by 21 African countries thus far. Benin, Eritrea, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Togo have completed their national expansion, which now includes all basic healthcare facilities.
Dr. Moeti emphasized that diabetes prevention and management programs are critical components of Universal Health Coverage, ensuring that everyone has access to the care they require.
Source: Richard Mensah Adonu | Join our Telegram Group
