The county government of Nakuru has rolled out a screening and early identification programme for people suffering from diabetes and hypertension in a move aimed at combating rising cases of diabetes and hypertension.
The County Director for Medical Services, Dr. Daniel Wainaina, said at least 31,622 residents of Nakuru County were currently living with diabetes, with another unknown number living with hypertension.
He explained that the screening and identification programme was aimed at ensuring that all the patients had timely referrals and management at the appropriate service level.
While indicating that the county was integrating the management and care for diabetes and hypertension cases across all its facilities and offering a link clinic for continuity of care across all levels, Dr. Wainaina explained that the services being offered included consultations, tests, treatment, and monitoring of the pertinent medical condition in line with the best practice guidelines.
The director said the county government was currently running 184 health facilities, including dispensaries, health centres, level four hospitals, and the Nakuru Level Five Hospital, and that the facilities were equipped to track the histories of patients and provide treatment for all types of illnesses associated with diabetes, including high blood pressure.
“We are operating on a system that enables doctors to have a comprehensive report by the time of commencing treatment and before,” explained Dr. Wainaina.
He expressed concern that the prevalence of diabetes in the country had doubled in the last three decades, accounting for 20 per cent of deaths in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Kenya has a diabetic prevalence rate of 3.1 per cent, which is said to be an alarming rate.
Speaking after a meeting with representatives from the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to review the findings of an assessment that was conducted in eighteen health facilities in the county on the management and care of diabetes and hypertension, Dr. Wainaina said the facilities not only offered affordable medication to diabetic patients but also used modern technology for diagnosis.
He said the facilities were offering accessible diabetes testing services in high-volume health facilities, with over 90 per cent of healthcare centres providing comprehensive care for diabetes and hypertension.
He called for early screening to reduce the risk of complications associated with the disease and advised that self-monitoring of blood pressure and sugar levels at home could improve treatment adherence and outcomes in patients with hypertension and diabetes.
At least 20,000 Kenyans die from diabetes every year, according to Ministry of Health (MoH) statistics. The data further shows that 700,000 people suffer from the disease, though two-thirds of them do not know that they have it.
Dr. Wainaina said that if untreated, diabetes could lead to blindness, heart failure, kidney complications, and lower limb amputation, but she assured that the complications were preventable through appropriate treatment and regular check-ups.
The director noted that non-communicable diseases were a growing public health threat in Kenya and accounted for 39 per cent of deaths in the country.
Ministry of Health (MoH) statistics estimate that one in every four adults in the country lives with hypertension, 2.4 per cent live with diabetes, and 3.1 per cent are pre-diabetic.
According to the World Health Organisation, the prevalence of diabetes is projected to rise to 4.5 per cent by 2025, thanks to a rising middle class that drives more, eats processed foods often, and spends hours at parties.
The worrisome increase in diabetes cases is mostly attributed to lifestyle changes—increased intake of unhealthy foods and physical inactivity—which subsequently culminate in obesity.
The International Diabetes Federation has ranked Kenya as the 31st African country in terms of diabetes, with a prevalence of about 460 diabetic cases per 10,000 people, out of which 3 per cent are adults.
By Esther Mwangi
