U.S. don proffers solution on diabetes prevention, improved care

A United States (U.S.) Fulbright Scholar, Prof. Ngozi Ugochukwu, has advised Federal Government to urgently implement prevention strategies and improve general diabetes care in the country.
Ugochukwu, a Professor of Chemistry, made the call while presenting a public lecture titled: “Diabetes Mellitus the Body Ravager” at the Federal University of Technlogy (FUT) Minna, Niger State on Thursday.
She said that diabetes “is a disease that incapacitates the body from properly producing or using insulin needed to convert carbohydrate foods into usable form by the body cells.’’
“When this occurs, the glucose instead of being absorbed by the cells and converted into energy, accumulates in the blood strain and silently ravages the body,” she said.
Ugochukwu stressed that diabetes was no longer the disease of the wealthy and should not be undermined by the poor.
“Diabetes hampers the people and economics of the poorest populations than other infectious diseases.
“As at 2014, there were more than 1.7 million Nigerians with diabetes but are not aware of it and the disease is busy ravaging their bodies,” she said.
Ugochukwu explained further that diabetes “is a chronic disease and there was the need for long term monitoring and treatment.’’
She, however, said that monitoring and treatment was not easy for the health care systems of Sub-Saharan Africa who based their focus on managing acute infections.
In his response, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Musbau Akanji, who expressed satisfaction and gratitude for her presentation described it as “educative’’.
Akanji further commended her for the passion she exhibited in her chosen profession, saying “the University is privileged to have her as a Fulbright Scholar.’’