TDA Chairperson Dr Kaushik Ramaiya released shocking figures when speaking ahead of the World Diabetes Foundation/East African Diabetes Study Group Symposium scheduled to kick-off today in Dar es Salaam.
According to Dr Ramaiya, in 2005 diabetes prevalence was at five percent, but now the prevalence is at nine percent.
From 1986 to 1989 prevalence of diabetes in rural population was less than one percent compared to two percent in urban areas.
“For a country like Tanzania which is still grappling to contain HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, the increase of non communicable disease (NCDs) is an additional burden with catastrophic economic costs to individuals, families, communities and the country at large,” Dr Ramaiya noted.
He explained that the double burden of infectious and non infectious disease is a major challenge for a developing country like Tanzania.
The two-day symposium is meant to explore national responses to diabetes in East, Central and Southern Africa and how to strengthen healthcare systems and improve lives throughout the region.
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