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The Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), has revealed that untreated diabetes was the major cause of disabilities, kidney failures and heart attacks in the country.
Speaking during a free diabetes screening exercise held at Wuse market on Saturday in Abuja with support from Gatefield, First Vice President of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, Dr. Mansur Ramalan lamented that globally, atleast one person dies from diabetes and diabetes related complications every every five seconds.
While raising concerns that half of the people known to have diabetes remain undiagnosed, Ramalan who is a consultant physician and Diabetologist, noted that the under reporting of diabetes was responsible for the high number of deaths associated with diabetes and it’s complications.
He said: “It’s very difficult to tell the exact figure of death related from diabetes, but we know patients with kidney failure are not recorded to have died from diabetes, they are recorded to have died from kidney disease.
“We also know that diabetes is one of the major causes of heart attack. Most people when they die from heart attack are recorded as cardiovascular or heart related deaths they are not recorded as diabetes death.
“We also know that people who have stroke, many of them have diabetes.
“Mortality from diabetes is huge but mostly because of the way the statistics are collected, they are under reported but even with this under reporting, we know that it’s responsible for large number of mortality.”
Ramalan who further disclosed that some complications related to diabetes affect people’s way of life and their means of livelihood including job loss in some cases, warned that the lifestyle associated with the management of diabetes was very expensive.
“Diabetes is the number one cause of non traumatic amputation, that person will not be able to go to work. Recurrent hospitalizations where they go to the hospital from time to time and get admitted, spend time in the hospital can also affect their productivity and work.
“Even if they are doing businesses, when they are unable to attend to their businesses that can affect them.”
“Also, the cost of the burden of care, in terms of cost of drugs, cost of consumables, cost of testing, cost of transportation to the hospital, is a burden to the healthcare system itself, the patients, their relations and to the family because money that is supposed to be meant for taking care of family is being diverted to diabetes and cost of medication.
“Don’t forget that these people have special diet that they need to take, they are not expected to eat the normal things that we eat day to day so their lifestyle is very expensive.”
On the suspended tax on sugary and sweetened beverage , the experts called on the federal government to recommence the tax deductions on non-alcoholic and sweetened beverages, and also ensure the deductions were judiciously used for the care of persons living with diabetes.
“Sometimes in April the deductions were stopped. We want government to recommence the deductions, we also want them to use this tax for the benefit of the patients.
“There are many things that they can do and we can advise the government and even give them directions, guidance on how to utilize these resources. Obviously, we need a lot of resources.
The Co-chair, National Action on sugar Reduction Coalition, Comrade Bernard Enyia, lamented that with the high cost of medication and diet required, living with diabetes in Nigeria in the present economy, was a herculean tax.
While lamenting that diabetes was a huge toll on families, he disclosed that a minimum of N150,000 was needed for the management of diabetes in just one month.
“Those who have diabetes live with it for life, we also take drugs on daily basis. In the last two years insulin injection was between N3000 to 4000 but now it costs over N20,000.
“To take three bottles in a month for number of times required you will spend well over the 70,000 minimum wage just for the drugs.
“There’s a special strip used to administer this injection It is also costly then there is diet regime. So a typical diabetes patient in Nigeria spend nothing less than N150,000 a month and this is a toll on our family.
Enyia who also urged government to recommence the tax on sugary and sweetened drinks, however proposed N130,000 deductions per litre, instead of the N10,00 per litre, to enable government raise enough revenue to cater for diabetic patients.
On whether government will not divert the tax deductions, he said, “that is why we are advocating that the legislature should enact a law authorizing the relevant agencies to plough this money into diabetes care.
Ordinarily, the money will just be domiciled in the consolidated revenue or the Health Care Fund as they call it. We will continue to agitate and raise our voices until that is achieved.”
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