Diabetes – Cameroon’s ticking timebomb

By Hinsley Njila (with Intro by Innocent Chia)

An extrapolation from the latest British Medical Journal, the Lancet, indicates that diabetes is on par to be the leading killing disease among Cameroonian women. According to the study that spans almost three decades, from 1980-2008, there has been a 60% increase in the prevalence of diabetes in the Cameroon female population. Compare this number to the 15-30 % increase during the identical timeframe among the male population. In the following piece, Hinsley Njila speaks his heart through his mind, imploring the government and Cameroon media to spring to live before the clock runs out of the ticking timebomb. The call for a sense of urgency stifles popular cliches that "Black men love their women fat".  

On June 27th, 2011 the respected British medical journal, the Lancet,  published results of the most comprehensive study yet about the global prevalence of diabetes. The study was led by Professor Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London and Goodarz Danaei at Harvard University.

The new study found that between 1980 and 2008, the number of adults with diabetes rose from 153 million to 347 million. Seventy per cent of the rise was due to population growth and ageing, with the other 30 per cent due to higher prevalence. The proportion of adults with diabetes rose to 9.8 per cent of men and 9.2 per cent of women in 2008, compared with 8.3 per cent of men and 7.5 per cent of women in 1980.

The estimated number of diabetics was considerably higher than a previous study in 2009 which put the number worldwide at 285 million.

The primary reason for this increase, the authors found, was Obesity due to the high correlation between rising rates of diabetes and a rise in body mass index. This global view however masks considerable variations between the sexes and among regions. In a country like Cameroon, the gap between the sexes was quite dramatic (See figure). Cameroonian women have seen a shocking 60+% increase in the prevalence of diabetes, while the men have seen a modest 15 – 30% increase from 1980 – 2008. Of course some of the difference can be explained by ageing, population growth and awareness. But I am quite concerned that this deadly disease is not getting the attention and resources it deserves especially among Cameroonian women. 

As a graduate student, I spent two years researching the effects of diabetes on the Hispanic population of the US for one of the world’s most recognized authority on the disease, Dr. Aida Giachello. Diabetes, I learned during that time, should not be taken lightly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes causes the following;

• Heart disease and stroke
• Hypertension
• Blindness and eye problems
• Kidney disease
• Nervous ystem disease
• Amputations
• Dental Disease
• Complications of pregnancy
• And others like biochemical imbalances, inability to walk short distances and so on.

(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf)

The good news about diabetes usually is that with the right attention given to the disease, usually by properly training medical and public health staff and patients, complications can be prevented through;

1. Glucose control
2. Blood pressure control
3. Control of Lipds
4. Preventice care practices for eyes, feet & kidneys.

Yes, there are a million problems in Cameroon as it is already. This, however, CANNOT and MUST NOT be ignored. Diabetes management can be quite expensive, and can overwhelm medical and public health systems. In the US for instance, with a prevalence rate of 8.3% (25.8 million people), the total annual cost of managing the disease is estimated by the CDC to be about $174 billion. My hope is that given the relative importance of women in terms of their contribution to the economy, as well as their ability to keep the functionality of the overall Cameroonian system, that the society itself needs to treat this as an emergency which may easily lead to an epidemic.

Cameroon is currently estimated by the World Bank to have a population of about 11,727,691 people above the age of 15. At just 9% prevalence of diabetes, we’re talking 1,055,492 diabetic patients. Assuming a very modest CFA 45,000 annual cost of managing the disease per patient, the total annual cost of managing diabetes to Cameroon could easily be a whopping CFA 47,497,148,550.

Urgent action is needed. The question is: Where is the media and medical establishment in the fight and in bringing about awareness?

 

Comments

[jinx]

Really alarming. Ask the minister of health if he's heard about this article, and the answer will be its not important.

It is time Cameroonians rethink life style habits-heavy drinking which leads to obesity and diabetes.

[Ayuk sandra]

I think the minister of health, and sports and physical education should come out with a campaign for fitness through a healthy life style.

[[email protected]]

I THINK CAMEROONIAN WOMEN SHOULD STOP EATING ACHU, FUFU CORN AND NJAMANJAMA IN LARGE QUANTITIES AT NIGHT!!! YOUR HEALTH DEPNDS ON YOUR OWN CHOICES.

[John Dinga]

Long, long ago, it was the practice to do physical education and sports of all kinds in primary and secondary schools. Pupils were kept fit and prim and healthy. And then the reformists stepped in with fantastic ideas.

Awareness education must be top of the list. Screening at all health centers would be ideal to pick out even the earliest cases. If medical certificates were a reflection of medical examinations actually carried out on those needing them, this would have been one golden opportunity to reach a large chunk of the population. Insurance companies too can help out by various inducements and/or sanctions where necessary.

Mr Njila, this is patriotism at its best and fellow patriots owe you a debt for this timely alert.

[Aken Aten]

Our good friend hinsley signs The "re-appearing act"!
I hope everything is fine buddy! We won't bother with "helen burning". Let us go to the fat of the world!
.......
Urgent action is needed. The question is: Where is the media and medical establishment in the fight and in bringing about awareness?
.......

The article seem to forget that we do not have obseity as a serious illness in our african history! More intersting the children grew for centuries in Africa without displaying those problems!
Then came the beautifull experience of colonisation!
The "white manitu" (TWM) told us live the countryside and head to town for the betterment of your life!
Prostitution became endemic! Easy money too!
TWM said: Let forgat about local food crops and deverse your souls into "exports crops"! We ran! Today the import bill create havoc in the miondoland finances!
TWN said. I will organise the world production of food through the FAO! Throw the Koki and and nuts cake by the window and eat........ light "Yoplait Yougourt" from Danone (listed on the french stock exchange!) Today the air condition bill of the FAO worlwide is superior to the budjet allocation of the ministry of agriculture in ...Somalia!
Then TWU was bored! He decided to create chewing gum! Why not with our "jaws" there was an .... opportunity (to speak the LL -Liberal Language-)!
Then he decided that the african were not eating enough of it! He decided that we needed "regime change" in order to sell more TV to us so that we look at the ads on CNN . and buy more Cocac Cola and Chewing gum.
Result FAT is creeping up!!!

Funnily enougth he remembered that he had offered some scholraships to the "brighthess minds". Just as all investement MUST PAY (to speak the LL), He activated the "epsimon code" aimed at the "most intelligents african": Those who can read the papers that he writes and speak better english than him!
hehehehe!
Those are to be put to work now!!!
TO DO WHAT ?????
TO BLAME THEIR INCAPABLE FELLOW "SCHOLARSHIP OWNERS" WHO ARE IN CHARGE OF ....HEALTH DEPARTEMENTS OR WHO ARE DP OF NEWSPAPERS!!!
AH the "OUTER-MIONDONIANS"!!!
AS the song goes; You cant touch that!

[BGS]

Witch craft is the handy diagnosis for every disease in Cameroon. HIV/AIDS is witch craft, Stroke is witch craft, Heart Attack is witch craft, motor vehicle accident is witch craft etc. This has put most of the medical professionals and the authorities to sleep. Diabetes can be as well be attributed to witch craft. Native doctors can be consulted. That's always our last resort.

[Frank Enoanyi]

"Great article and should be shared across the greater Cameroonian media lanscape...its an eye opener especially for me as my father recently suffered a stroke from Diabetes complications and has since Nov 10' not able to speak and walk...thank good his BP and Blood Sugar has been under control and hence has been able to sruvive the attack due to rapid intervention and more so lots of financial expense."

[Dave Ewusi]

While the Ministry of Public health can create special funds for diabetes and hypertension as it has done for malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, I strongly think a good part of the problem and the inherent solution is in our changing life styles. "Fastfoods" cameroonian style,(bread and puffpuff instead of koki corn etc)are mostly responsible for this problem. The solution lies in individual behavioural change. We have to take our own destinies in our hands. The media can only broadcast paid adverts for these "poor foods", and whatever messages the government throws their way once in a while.

[Emmanuel Elangwe]

Good stuff...Sir Hins...

Er'body settle down!! Just b'cos Sir Hins sounds the "get your pitch-fork" alarm doesn't necessarily mean the is something going on...! For starters Sir Hins, 2 out of 3 of the pics on your post na akata woman them...wtf! Sorry just had to throw that in there...!

The stats clearly explain these so call explosive increase amongst Cameroonian women over 15. Cameroonian women now live longer and the has been corresponding increase membership in the "old mami" category! Research spanning close to 30 years, with such a wide or HUGE sample population (women 15 and above...) should be taken for what it really is... Alarmist, a desperate justification for research funding, and imho never tell the real story.

Sir Hins, I think you are "spot on" based on those CDC/WorlBank numbers, I just don't believe them. A figure of the total deaths per year amongst Cameroonian women 15 and above would come in very handy, you know.

Sir Hins, if all we have is stats from the CDC and World Bank, I wouldn't loose any sleep over this Ticking Time Bomb.

IT is not that serious...! That's my 2 cents.

[LN]

Thank you, Hinsley for drawing our attention to this. While we expect the government and ministries to do something, it'll even be more effective if we each start in our small ways to help by supporting organizations and local charities involved and speaking to small women's groups to educate them. This is great!

[achimjo]

An important aspect of this diabetes is metabolic syndrome which is the body's inability to produce enough insulin to break down the large quantity of glucose from carbohydrate or starchy foods eaten by cameroonians.In some instances, the pancreas has worked so hard producing insulin so much so that its capacity is reduced leaving the body with high levels of glucose. Cameroonians have to change their eating habits, and exercise regularly. According to CDC, 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise four times a week is very useful in cutting down the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Sedentary life has contributed greatly in the growth of diabetes and obesity in Cameroon.

[jinx]

Starchy food is cheap in Cameroon. Fufu is cheap, and feels up the stomach fast. Vegetables which could be a good and cheap alternative presents the challenge f having to prepare it with meat or fish. In this times, ask Cameroonians to eat green, bitterleaf soup, or okonghobon without meat, and you will be subject to ridicule and pity. I maintain that heavy drinking, excessive palm oil in ndole, and eru, and sese plantain and malanga root should be revisited. We do not have the infrastructure and material resources to care for diabetics and highblood pressure patients. Lets start moving and stop drinking. Call your family and friends back home and educate them on the basics of these diseases. How our education failed to train us on the practicalities of these diseases.

[achimjo]

You are right Jinx. Why note institute nutritional education in our schools as well as physical education starting from the primary school so as to instill in our young ones healthy eating habits and exercise.
We have a lot of healthy food items but most people not know how to eat them or eat very little of the useful food items and take most to the market for sale. You can not imagin that a woman who farms Njamanjama for example after harvesting takes every thing to the market and the children have little or nothing to eat fufu with.
Education as to this problem is very necessary for a change of eating and exercise habits. Let us all be examples.

[Hinsley Njila]

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. As a tireless health advocate, I am acutely aware of how even subtle changes in lifestyle choices can affect overall quality of life.

Keep in mind that even if every Cameroonian abroad reaches out to their families and somehow were successful at having them make lifestyle changes, it'll be a good first step but would hardly make a meaningful overall impact.

Please reach out to your parliamentarians, DOs, mayors etc so together we can shock our collective consciousness. To Mr. Frank Enoanyi, myself and millions of others, the effects of diabetes are real and personal. Obviously when people are sick they can't be as productive, so the economic costs go far beyond just direct medical costs.

We need to make diabetes more of a public health issue than just a medical condition. Hopefully the successes of HIV efforts can be translated to diseases like diabetes, cholera, alcohol abuse and others that are unnecessarily affecting the lives of too many of our fellow countrymen and women.

[che J]

aministrator those pics are dangerous.those pics are monique and ...they can sue u for mischaracterization.

[Manu]

I applaud you Mr. Chia for blogging this very important issue. A country or government that doesn’t invest in the healthcare of its citizens is doom to fail, unfortunately the healthcare system and infrastructures in Cameroon have been declining in the past 25 years.

Cameroon with its natural resources is a rich enough country to sustain itself and take care of its citizens health wise. This mentality of leaders and those who can afford (though stolen in most instances) prefer to travel oversees for their medical treatment therefore under mind strengthening the country’s healthcare system.

The saying goes, “you are what you eat and drink” is so true when it comes to diseases like diabetes and staying healthy. The fact is people need to watch what they eat, amount of calorie consumed and come to the realization that exercise is part of the equation. We need to develop the mindset that taking care of oneself is a duty which translates to a healthy life style.

As adults we need to sets an example to the rest of our respective families in staying active. I grew up at a time where I walked everywhere I went regardless of the distance, I may not walk long distance but I make it my obligation to work out at the gym or outside at least four times a week.

The notion that black men love their women fat is simple not accurate, we love our women, including our mothers, wife, girlfriends, sisters and daughters healthy not fat, don’t get it twisted.

God Bless.

[Justin Bieber Shoes]

Hi ,thanks for this post.
******The job market is constantly moving and growing and if HR professionals are not on top of this movement they and their company can be doomed. As second city alum and HR professional, I've always advocated for basic improv training not just in hr, but for all professionals in general.

[dentures florence sc]

It seems that diabetes causes lots of health problems including dental disease. It is very alarming.

[Magrabi ICO Cameroon Eye Institute]

According to a survey conducted by the Cameroon Burden of Diabetes Project (CAMBoD I) in 2003, 6% of Cameroonian adults (aged 15 – 65 years) was diabetic, a six fold rise from 1% in 1994 (less than 10 years). According to the same survey, 25% were hypertensive, while obesity was almost reaching epidemic proportions with 21% of adult females and 15% of adult males respectively being obese.

Another remarkable finding of this survey was that 77% of hypertensives and 80% of diabetics were NOT aware of their condition, and the management of these conditions by health care providers was found to be inadequate.

The good news, though, is that type 2 diabetes is preventable through lifestyle changes such as healthy diets, increasing physical activity, reducing weight in case of overweight or obesity etc. And even for those diagnosed with diabetes, it is possible to significantly reduce the risk of loss of vision from diabetes.

The CAMBoD team under the able leadership of Prof Mbanya have used their research findings to raise awareness about diabetes and improve care. Results of CAMBoD II are awaited.

[ifa tomi]

i have solution it a secreat