Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, disclosed how he managed diabetes for thirty year, saying it only kills those who are careless about its treatment.
Obasanjo disclosed this on Friday morning, November 8, when he led hundreds of people on a road walk to sensitise the populace on the disease and how to manage it.
The road walk was organised by the South West Zone of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN) in collaboration with the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), to mark the 2019 World Diabetes Day.
The Herald gathered that was not the first time the former president would give a lectures on the diabetes.
He said: “While I was at Ibadan, I had a postgraduate anatomy neighbour, Cynthia Ibe, who was researching type-2 diabetes. It was then I knew there are two types of diabetes— type 1 and 2. She enlightened me more on the causes, management and treatment of diabetes.
“Our conversation became more interesting and intellectual to the point she told me about the little albino rats she was using for her experiments, the photographs from her results, the reagents and herb extracts she was using for her work, and the hope her research could bring to people suffering from diabetes.
“Diabetes—a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower-limb amputation—prevalence has been rising more rapidly in middle- and low-income countries. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2016.
“According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), it is estimated that 415 million people are living with diabetes in the world, which is estimated to be 1 in 11 of the world’s adult population.
“The figure is expected to rise to 642 million people living with diabetes worldwide by 2040. About five million Nigerians live with diabetes, and an estimated two-thirds of diabetics in Nigeria remain undiagnosed. Sadly, this number is going to increase by 2040.
“The theme for the diabetes awareness month and World Diabetes Day 2018 and 2019 is ‘Family and Diabetes’. “A two-year time frame has been chosen to best facilitate planning, development, promotion and participation,”
Despite the majority of people surveyed having a family member with diabetes, an alarming four-in-five parents would have trouble recognising the warning signs. One-in-three would not spot them at all.