Enhancing diabetes education and care in Ogun State, Nigeria

Objectives

World Health Organization statistics indicate that Nigeria has the highest number of people living with diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, most Nigerians living with diabetes experience hypertension and do not have optimal glycaemic control, leading to serious long-term complications.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that 3,747,000 people have diabetes in Nigeria with a prevalence of 4.6% in adults, in Ogun State 5% have diabetes.

Diabetes care is delivered at secondary and tertiary healthcare levels, thus, diabetes care is not carried out at the primary care level in the community. This is a serious disadvantage for people with diabetes living in the villages, as 54% of Nigerians live in rural areas where the first level of healthcare is the primary health centre.

Objectives

The project aims to strengthen diabetes care capacity at primary level in Ogun State, and will be rolled out within existing public health structures and in cooperation with health authorities.

Approach

The project targets primary healthcare workers in the 20 local governments in Ogun State.

Primary health care workers will attend 3-day update courses on type 2 diabetes, participating in 20 lectures on the various aspects of diabetes.

The lectures will be compiled into a training manual for distribution to participants. A total of 2,000 copies of manuals will be produced for this purpose.

At the end of the 3-day programme, screening equipment such as monofilaments, glucose monitors and strips will be distributed to the various primary care centres represented at the course.

Strengthened by diabetes training and basic equipment, all the health centres are now encouraged to actively screen individuals who come to the centres for routine care for diabetes

Results at completion

300 primary healthcare centres strengthened to provide diabetes and hypertension care.
946 Health Care Providers trained in basic diabetes care.
13,771 people screened for diabetes and 11,247 people screened for hypertension.
7,2% of people screened had high blood sugar and were referred for treatment.