13.6 million Get Diabetes In Ghana; Otiko Djaba Urges Healthy Lifestyle

The Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation has expressed discomfort about the rate at which more Ghanaians especially women are dying of diabetes.

She urges Ghanaians to live a good and healthy lifestyle.

According to a statement issued in Accra recently and signed by the Executive Director of Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, Dr. Otiko Afisah Djaba to mark the 2019 World Diabetes Day, over 13.6 million people in Ghana are living with the disease, and its consequential disabilities.

The statement indicated that diabetes is the 9^th leading cause of death in women in the world accounting for 2.1 million deaths annually.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2016, that 422 million people worldwide are living with diabetes. Out of this number, 199 million are women”.

This year’s World Diabetes Day is on the theme: “Protect Your Family” and it is aimed at raising awareness of the impact that diabetes has on families and strategies to mitigate its impact.

Research shows that diabetes is also a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, kidney failure and other disabilities such as blindness, stroke and lower limb amputation among others.

The disease according to the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation also visits the victims and their families with serious economic hardships due to the high cost of treatment.

As a result, the Foundation encouraged all Ghanaians to follow the DPM system: Discover – in other words know your status, Prevent – if your status is negative Or Manage – seek early treatment if your status is positive.

Diabetes is a serious chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. And Ghana is ranked as the 6th African country with the highest number of diabetes cases.

This according to the Foundation, “is not only alarming but also very sad for a developing nation that requires healthy human resources for development.

The Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation therefore appealed to Ghanaians to live healthy lifestyles which include, good dieting and regular exercises.

The Foundation saluted all those who are living with and battling Diabetes and further encourage them to be strong and responsive to the treatment and management regime.