World Diabetes Day: Experts express concern over prevalence

Experts in the management of Diabetes have expressed concern over the prevalence of the disease and the health challenges it poses to the world.

The views were expressed by various experts while speaking at a Diabetes Workshop organised in Abuja ahead of the celebration of World Diabetes Day today.

The workshop was organised by the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN) in collaboration with the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation [OOF] as part of events marking this year’s World Diabetes Day.

In his address, National President of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), and Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi, Dr Mohammed Alkali said diabetes had assumed an epidemic proportion in the world, adding that it was the major noncommunicable disease that posed great health challenges especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

He said that there was the need for the federal government to give the necessary attention to control the disease with a view to stopping its prevalence.

On his part, a guest speaker, Professor Bakari Adamu Girei lamented that diabetes in Nigeria was an unrecognized national epidemic despite the increase in its prevalence.

He said that poor control of the disease could lead to acute complications, like blindness, foot amputation, kidney disease, heart attacks and stroke, among other problems.