This year, on 14 November, the World Health Organization (WHO) joins the rest of the international community to commemorate World Diabetes Day under the theme “Diabetes: protect our future”. This theme underscores the need to protect ourselves and future generations from the rising tide of this incurable, costly disease.
Modernization, rapid urbanization, aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods, among other factors, play a major role in the upsurge of diabetes in Africa. People in our region are more and more adopting lifestyles marked by reduced physical activity and eating habits involving the higher intake of refined sugars and saturated fats. In 2011, an estimated 14.7 million adults in the African Region were suffering from diabetes which resulted in 344,000 deaths. During that same period countries in the Region spent nearly 2.8 billion US dollars on the disease.
The challenges faced by countries in tackling diabetes are well known: services for the care of chronic diseases are poorly organized; public awareness about the diabetes is limited, and well-structured education programmes for patients and health professionals are not available. Furthermore, most countries do not have national diabetes programs and the difficulties associated with access to affordable drugs for treatment also warrant attention. Investment, research, and health systems have been slow to respond to the burden related to diabetes and other chronic diseases.
However, the good news is, there is evidence that achieving a healthy body weight, good dietary habits and moderate physical activity can help prevent the development of diabetes. This therefore calls for everyone to protect his/herself by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Diabetes education is essential to preventing and managing the disease. Therefore, governments, development partners and civil society organizations should carry out public health awareness campaigns to sensitize the public on the disease, focusing on prevention. It is also important for people at risk or those who suffer from the disease to be educated to enable them to manage it well to avoid its associated complications.
As we commemorate World Diabetes Day, I wish to take this opportunity to stress the importance and urgent need to adapt health systems to address diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases. Diabetes is one of the major health and development challenges of the 21st century. No country, rich or poor, is immune to the epidemic. Let us join hands to protect the future by tackling this rising scourge.
Thank you.