Nigeria’s federal health ministry has announced a meeting involving the Nigerian government, Civil Society Organization and
other health experts on diabetes and other Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) in Abuja on 23rd – 24th August, 2017.
In a statement made available to news men Boade Akinola, Director of Media and Public Relations at the federal ministry of health stated that the meeting is being organized by the Federal Ministry of Health, Strategies for Improving Diabetes Care in Nigeria (SIDCAIN) and the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF).
“It is expected that over 100 delegates would converge to discuss and share ideas on how to reduce the prevalence of Non- communicable diseases especially Diabetes in Nigeria,” Akinola stated.
Worldwide, about 415 million people have diabetes and more than 14 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. According to estimates, these figures will be more than double by 2040.
The International Diabetes Foundation also revealed that there were more than 1.56 million cases of diabetes in Nigeria in 2015.
Commenting on the status of Nigeria, the Director of Non Communicable Diseases at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Nnenna Ezeigwe, described diabetes as one of the major public health challenges of the 21st century.
“By bringing many key partners together, we hope to foster more cooperation and synergies between the people and projects fighting diabetes and other NCDs in Nigeria,” she said.
The health ministry disclosed that on August 23, the meeting would focus more on sharing experience from World Diabetes Foundation which has been funding projects to improve diabetes prevention awareness and care in Nigeria since 2008
The Managing Director, World Diabetes Foundation, Dr. Anders Dejgaard, said the meeting would encourage networking and action between the World Diabetes Foundation project and other stakeholders in the health sector.
The Principal Investigator, Strategies for Improving Diabetes Care in Nigeria, Prof. Alebiosu Christopher Olutayo, said that for the past nine years his organization has been raising awareness on the need to improve diabetes care in Nigeria.
0n 24th August, the delegate would deliberate on the status of Non- Communicable Diseases care in Nigeria as well as strategies for realizing the goal of Nigeria’s National Strategic Plan of Action on prevention and control of Non- Communicable Diseases.