Diabetes in Kampala
DiabetesAid
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a growing public health problem worldwide with an estimated 422 million adults affected in 2014; 7.1% (25 million) prevalence Africa (Global Report on Diabetes, World Health Organization, pp 25). By 2025, it is estimated that more than 75% of people with diabetes will reside in low-income countries. Kampala is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning. Although Kampala was named the 13th fastest growing city on the planet, with an annual population growth rate of 4.03 percent, it is located in one of the poorest nations in the world. In 2012, 37.8 percent of the population lived on less than $1.25 a day. While agriculture accounted for 56 percent of Uganda’s economy in 1986, with coffee as its main export, it has now been surpassed by the services sector, which accounted for 52 percent of GDP in 2007.
“Uganda is experiencing a marked upsurge of diabetes. In a random sample from Kampala the capital city and its neighboring district Mukono, the prevalence was estimated to be up to 8.1%” (Adherence to anti diabetic medication among patients with diabetes in eastern Uganda; a cross sectional study, James Bagonza, Elizeus Rutebemberwa and William Bazey, pp 1). According to International Diabetes Federation diabetes cases were raised up to 259,100 in Uganda in 2017. 1.4 percent of adults suffered from the disease. Among other things, the increasing rate of patients is caused by the sudden change of living styles in urban places and the shortage of necessary nutrition in rural places. In addition to that, the education system towards diabetes and self-support strategies faced a lot of challenges in Uganda. Rural places are in shortage of portable education devices and people put less attention to health care . The locals have difficulty managing a healthy diet because of the high price of vegetables and different view of nutrient treatment. Most of the information about the various ways to treat the disease is available in high schools or universities where few people can get access to. People also have limited access to medical resources in both rural and urban areas, and the price is always unaffordable for most patients. The hospitals in the capital, Kampala, cannot provide certain medical equipment, and the insulin injection is too expensive for many people.