A prominent doctor in Nigeria has raised an alarm on the increase prevalence of diabetes affecting a great percentage of the adult population.
The Secretary-General of Endocrine and Metabolism Society of Nigeria, Dr. Olufemi Fasanmade, has said one out of every 10 adult Nigerians has Type-2 diabetes.
Fasanmade, who addressed journalists on behalf of the President of EMSON, Prof. Feyi Adegoke, put the figure of those suffering from the condition in the country at five million, but predicted that it will double to 10 million by 2026.
He made this disclosure on Thursday in Calabar, Cross River State, during the opening session of the 38th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of EMSON.
Fasanmade said the situation calls for concern as over 420 million people suffer from the condition globally.
He said over 15 million people in Africa were currently being treated for diabetes, adding that a lot of awareness needed to be done to curb the spread.
He said, “Diabetes is on the increase and it calls for national concern. Globally, we have about 420 million persons suffering from diabetes and in Nigeria we have five million. This is much more than several other conditions that have national prominence. One in 10 adult Nigerians has ‘type 2’ diabetes and a few less have ‘type 1’.
“In the near future, it is believed that in Africa, which has about 15 million diabetic patients, by 2026 that number will double to 30 million and Nigeria will be moving from five to 10 million. In Nigeria, residents in the urban cities are more at risk of diabetes than those in the rural areas.
“The metropolitan cities have the highest rate of diabetes and that is because people are tending more towards western lifestyle of consuming more of alcohol drinks, smoking, consumption of fast food and others. These are some of the things that drive the epidemic that we are seeing.”
The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the conference, Dr. Okon Essien, lamented that people were doing less of physical activities at the moment.
He added that lack of exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking were the reasons for increase in diabetes and obesity cases.
