As part of efforts to mark 2024 World Diabetes Day, the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), in collaboration with Gatefield Foundation, has called on the federal government to reintroduce the suspended taxation on sweetened beverages and channel the funds to catering to diabetes patients across the country.
It made the call during a free pre-diabetes screening exercise and sensitisation at Wuse Market themed “Diabetes and Well-being” in Abuja.
The consultant physician, diabetologist and the 1st Vice President of DAN, Dr Mansur Ramalan, said approximately 14 million Nigerians are living with diabetes in the country.
Ramalan highlighted that World Diabetes Day is being celebrated annually to remember and advocate for people living with diabetes across the globe.
He reiterated, “We are celebrating with the team and have been doing various activities. Even though the actual date is the 14th of November, from the 14th of November to the end of the month, we have activities lined up for people with diabetes.
“Today, we are conducting pre-diabetes screening for people to know their status because we are aware that half of the people who are known to have this disease are not diagnosed. They are undiagnosed, and we want to get people who have diabetes or pre-diabetes to know that they have this condition. We also want to speak out on the issue of the high cost of medications.
“We are aware that the patients are experiencing a lot of difficulty because these medications are very expensive. Sometimes, they are not available, and where they are available, they find it difficult to get them.
“In Nigeria, currently, we believe that we have about six percent of the population affected with diabetes. If you project that to our total population of around 230 million to 240 million people, we’re talking about 12 to 14 million people affected with diabetes.”
He also said that the past administration passed this tax on sugary and sweetened beverages, but the deductions were stopped in February this year.
“Therefore, we want the federal government to resume the deductions. Apart from the resumption of taxation, we want the government to use this tax to benefit the patients. There are many things the government can do with the money because we need a lot of resources in this country. It will bring a lot of succour to the patients if the government resumes the deductions.”
“However, globally, it is known that every five seconds, one person dies from diabetes and diabetes-related complications, and the mortality from diabetes is huge, but mostly because of the way the statistics are collected, they are underreported, but even with this underreporting.
“Our target is to screen as many people as we can turn up. We have the resources. We have enough human resources; there are doctors, nurses, dieticians, and lab scientists. We have a lot of them here with us who are members of the association. We are also asking people to join us in the Diabetes Association of Nigeria to help advocate for these people so that we can achieve our goals.
“Ignorance and poverty are contributing factors to diabetes. These are some of the problems we are facing because sometimes when these people are diagnosed with diabetes, some of them don’t believe that they have the disease, and there is this denial.
“Sometimes it takes some time before people can accept their condition. And within that time, they can develop complications. Some of them don’t take medications. Some of them have some beliefs. Some people believe that they shouldn’t take injections. So, I advise everyone to go for screening and get treatment,” he stated.
Also speaking, the co-chair of the National Action on Sugar Reduction Coalition, Comrade Benard Enyia, said the cost of diabetes medication is very high and for the government to intervene as it is a lifetime sickness.
He said: “I am living with type 2 diabetes. Before I was diagnosed, I discovered that I was passing out a lot of urine and drinking plenty of water. I would eat food, a large quantity of food and become hungry almost immediately. And I couldn’t see well. I would have this blurry vision where I can’t read characters in the Bible or the dictionary.”
