By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The National Action on Sugar Reduction Coalition (NASR), has highlighted the suffering of diabetes patients in Nigeria through a Photo Exhibition.
The exhibition, which took place at Thought Pyramid Art Gallery Abuja, informed and educated stakeholders on Nigeria’s diabetes burden and the need for action to reduce the difficulties of living with diabetes in Nigeria.
Coalition Spokesperson, Omei Bongos-Ikwue, in a statement, said that diabetes is a chronic disease that negatively impacts every organ in the body.
Noting that no fewer than 11 million Nigerians, are currently suffering from the disease, the Coalition linked the rising wave of the epidemic in Nigeria to the consumption of sugary drinks.
The photography exhibition, the spokesperson said, featured patients in different stages of diabetes, some with major complications like limb amputation and blindness.
“In a compelling visual narrative, photographers Maryam Turaki, Tim Yisa, and Maruuf Saidu featured six patients living with diabetes to increase public concern for the millions of Nigerians suffering from diabetes,” the statement added.
The Secretary of, Diabetes Association of Nigeria, Comrade Bernard Enyia, called on the government to increase taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.
The exhibition, she noted included a panel session moderated by Professor Felicia Anumah, Director of the Centre for Diabetes Studies at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.
She disclosed that the panelists consisted entirely of patients living with diabetes.
Professor Anumah stressed that, given the Nigerian economy, “prevention is the cheapest option.”
The Professor added that as a result of increased inaccessibility to medicines, more diabetes complications are impending – more strokes, more kidney failures, and more gangrenous limbs, leading to more amputations.
Don Ejiro, one of the panelists, said that accessing drugs has now become a terrible experience with some diabetes medicines now costing four times as much as they used to at the beginning of the year.
Dr Mohammed Alkali, President of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria said the issue of diabetes is one in which everyone should be involved.
