How Kenya marked World Diabetes Day

One in every two people with diabetes is undiagnosed. Early diagnosis and treatment is key to helping prevent or delay life-threatening complications.

Kenya joins the rest of the World to mark the World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated annually on November 14 every year. This initiative is led by the World Health Organization and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) globally. The theme for World Diabetes Day 2020 is The Nurse and Diabetes. The campaigns geared towards the realization of this theme will aim at raising awareness on the crucial role that nurses play in supporting people living with diabetes.

Diabetes is a lifelong condition characterized by high blood sugar resulting from the lack of or insufficient production of insulin, insulin resistance (inaction) or both. Our body needs glucose (from food) to make energy. The entry of glucose to the body cells is facilitated by a hormone called insulin. It acts like a key that opens the body cells for glucose to enter and produce energy. When cells do not take up glucose, it floods the blood system. This is then referred to as high blood sugar or hyperglycemia.