Health Ministry pushes for subsidising cost of diabetes treatment

The Ministry of Health proposes that the cost of treating diabetes should be subsidised for sufferers because the cost is relatively high.

Deputy Minister of Health, Alexander Kojo Abban made this request at an event that marked the 2019 World Diabetes Day, on Thursday, at Apam, in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region.

He announced that there are also considerations for certain aspects of the treatment to be covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme.

Mr Abban however, advised Ghanaians to adopt healthy lifestyles and go for regular medical check-ups to ensure early detection should they get the disease.

The World Diabetes Day is observed annually across the world on November 14 to create awareness on diabetes and discuss how it can be prevented, regulated and easily treated to avert complications.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines diabetes as a chronic, metabolic disease characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads to the development of serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves, over a period of time.

It occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.

Hyperglycaemia or high level of blood sugar, is a common example of the consequence of uncontrolled diabetes.

In 2014, WHO says 8.5% of adults aged 18 years and older had diabetes, while in 2016, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths.

In 2012, high blood glucose was the cause of 2.2 million deaths.

The Member of Parliament for Gomoa West, said unhealthy habits such as poor eating, physical inactivity, alcohol and tobacco use makes a person susceptible to contracting Type 2 diabetes.

Type1 diabetes is, however, genetically acquired.