From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Lions Club International, Multiple District 404B2 Nigeria, in partnership with the Osun State Government, have flagged off 10,000 diabetes screening and testing across the state.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony of the exercise at Timi Market in Ede, Ede South Local Government Area of the state, the Project Chairperson of MD 404 Diabetes Project, Dr Christine Funke Adebajo, described diabetes as a deadly disease with high prevalence in Nigeria, noting that it is quick in reducing the lifespan of the people.
She noted that over four million people are living with diabetes in Nigeria while 40 thousand people die yearly due to the complication.
‘We have provisions for those who have been diagnosed. We will be treating patients, we will be making referrers in some cases that can’t be handled by health care centres. We will also be monitoring the progress of people that have been diagnosed with diabetes,’ she said.
Noting that complications can be averted if patients adhere to the treatment, Adebajo advised Nigerians to live healthy to prevent diabetes.
The District Governor, Lion Kayode Oshinuga, who described diabetes as a silent killer, encouraged people to know their status.
‘There is a need for the people to come out for screening. Once they come out, they would know their status. They would know what they are supposed to be eating and the food they are not supposed to eat so they would be able to live their normal life,’ he explained.
‘Many people had diabetes for five years and they are managing it because they know they have it and they are taking precautions to curb its complications.’
Oshinuga disclosed that 40 per cent of people living with diabetes are not aware of their status.
The council chairperson and grand administrator, Abiodun Adediji, noted that many diabetes patients in the country are ignorant of the disease.
He stated that the project, which was aimed at reducing the number of people living with diabetes in the state to the barest minimum through consistent awareness and sensitisation, is to take place at 7 locations across the three senatorial districts in the state.
Adediji maintained that the club has taken the responsibility to create awareness and treat patients in 50 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) in eight Local Government Areas of the state.
‘We want to create awareness and treat those who have diabetes but do not know that they have diabetes. It is better to be aware than not to be aware.
‘There are many Nigerians who have diabetes but are not aware, we want to achieve what our counterpart achieved with polio in Nigeria. We have been doing it and we will succeed on this,’ he said.