New research from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) reveals that only 47% of people living with diabetes in Nigeria find their healthcare practitioner to be the most useful source for information to help manage their condition. This means people are turning elsewhere to receive education, with the figures – released ahead of World Diabetes Day on Monday 14 November – showing people in Nigeria using a number of other sources, with one in five (21%) turning to Google for
Only 46% of people living with diabetes in the African region know their status, raising the risk of severe illness and death, potentially worsening the situation in the region which already has the world’s highest mortality rates due to the disease, a new analysis by World Health Organization (WHO) shows. Globally, 55% of people with diabetes know they have diabetes. In the African region, lack of testing facilities and equipment, inadequate number of trained health personnel, poor access to health facilities
Africa’s sharp increase in diabetes is clashing with the COVID-19 pandemic and poor access to vaccines. Africa’s death rates from COVID-19 infections are significantly higher in patients with diabetes, according to a preliminary analysis which the World Health Organization (WHO) presented today in advance of the World Diabetes Day on 14 November. “COVID-19 is delivering a clear message: fighting the diabetes epidemic in Africa is in many ways as critical as the battle against the current pandemic,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti,
A group of drugs used to treat HIV and hepatitis B could be repurposed to prevent type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers found that patients taking the drugs had a 33% lower risk of developing diabetes. The scientists say that the risk reduction makes sense based on how the drugs are known to work, and noted that one of the drugs, lamivudine, improved insulin sensitivity significantly in human cell samples and in a mouse model of diabetes. (In type