Word Diabetes Day: 2.1m women die of diabetes yearly – Dr. Isiavwe


…Free Diabetes Screening To Hold In Lagos

About 2.1 million women die every year from diabetes globally, with Nigeria accounting for many of the deaths. 
The Medical Director, Rainbow Specialist Medical Centre, Lekki, Lagos, Dr. Afoke Isiavwe revealed this yesterday, in a statement ahead of the World Diabetes Day.

World Diabetes Day is marked worldwide by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) on November 14, every year.

The theme for this year is: Women and Diabetes: Our right to a healthy future.

She said diabetes has been recognised as the ninth leading cause of death in women, yet many women with the disease are unaware they have it.

In view of this, the hospital management said it would be conducting free diabetes screening and diabetes foot care education for the public as part of activities to mark 2017 World Diabetes Day (WDD).

According to her, the free screening will be conducted from Wednesday November 1 to Thursday November 30 between 6.30 am and 7.30 am at the hospital premises in Lekki Phase 1 and every Saturday in November between 8.00am and 12 noon at Circle Mall, Lekki Phase 1.

Dr. Isiavwe, an endocrinologist, said the theme should be of particular interest to Nigerians because the country has one of the highest numbers of persons living with diabetes in Africa.

According to her, Nigeria also has a large number of women living with diabetes and they are worse off because many do not have access to diagnosis, education, treatment and care.

According to IDF, two out of every five women with diabetes are of reproductive age, accounting for over 60 million women worldwide.

“Persons with uncontrolled diabetes will develop a wide range of complications linked with the disease, some of which could lead to lengthy hospital stays, blindness, foot amputation or death. We are providing this screening free of charge to mark the World Diabetes Day because early detection of diabetes could save individuals from these complications,”