Diabetes – Novo Nordisk, a multinational pharmaceutical company, on Saturday announced the introduction of a programme to supply free insulin to children living with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in Nigeria and Ghana from 2021.
Jude Abonu, Business Unit Head, English West Africa, Novo Nordisk, made the disclosure at a webinar organised by the company to mark the 2020 World Diabetes Day (WDD) with the theme “The Nurse and Diabetes’’.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that WDD was created in 1991 by IDF and the WHO in response to growing concerns about the increasing health threat posed by diabetes.
The day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225.
It is marked every year on November 14, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.
The 2020 theme aims to raise awareness around the crucial role that nurses play in supporting people living with diabetes.
An online medical website, Healthline.com says, “Diabetes mellitus, sometimes called “sugar diabetes’, is a condition that occurs when the body can’t use glucose (a type of sugar) normally.
“Glucose is the main source of energy for the body’s cells. The levels of glucose in the blood are controlled by a hormone called insulin, which is made by the pancreas,” it says.
According to Mr Abonu, the free supply of insulin to children project, tagged “Changing Diabetes in Children”, will start in 2021 in Ghana and Nigeria in fulfillment of the company’s goal to ensure full access to its insulin.
“Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a lifelong disease condition that requires (a) holistic approach in its management.
“Insulin consumption in Nigeria is the least in the world and this implies that most Nigerians who are supposed to be getting it cannot (get) it.
“All healthcare practitioners should work together to ensure that the outcome and prognosis get better for patients who are living with diabetes.
“Through this programme, we are going to be giving free insulin for the next three years to children who are below 21-years, living with diabetes. It is going to be launched Quarter one of 2021.
“It has been approved. We are also working on how to give insulin at highly subsidised price to seniors. Those who are above 55 who are indigent, who do not have enough income or money to pay for their insulin,’’ he said.
Antonia Ogbera, a Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, said that many people, both children and adults, have died because they could not afford medications for DM.
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Ms Ogbera spoke on the topic: “The rising burden of diabetes: the facts, the figures and the drivers of the disease in Nigeria”.
According to Ms Ogbera, a professor, 19 million adults are living with diabetes in Africa and by 2045, the figure may rise to 47 million.
She said: “Globally, 463 million people have diabetes and by 2045, it is estimated that 700 million people will have it.
“In 2015, about 5.0 million people died in Africa from diabetic mellitus.
