State of Diabetes Care in Nigeria: A Review

Background: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is rising in Nigeria and its complications present an immense public health burden.Objective(s): The objective of this discourse is to review the state of diabetes care in Nigeria with focus on the needs, priorities and recommendations, which should guide our clinicians. It will discuss the definition, pattern, landmark Nigerian studies on diabetes care, matters arising, morbidity/mortality and proposed strategies for improving diabetes care in Nigeria.Methods (Data Sources /extraction): The data search used in this review covered studies published from 1959-2010, obtained from prevalence studies, hospital statistics, registry reports, landmark hospital-basedstudies, recent international conference proceedings, world health reports, government estimates, United Nations resolutions on diabetes, international diabetes federation (IDF) declarations and clinical practice guidelines. The medline database, the internet (e-medicine, medscape resource etc), journal articles, World Health and international diabetes federation (IDF) monographs were used.Results: The rising prevalence of diabetes as well as its associated morbidity / mortality, preventive measures and effective treatments are well recognized. However, in practice this knowledge is under- utilized because only about a third of Nigerians living with diabetes achieve optimum targets (glycaemic control, blood pressure, lipids and weight).Conclusion: Most Nigerians living with diabetes have suboptimal control, are hypertensives and have chronic complications. Improved quality of care and treatmentto- target is recommended to reduce diabetes-related morbidity and mortality.Keywords: State, diabetes care, recommendations, NCDs, United Nations