WHO: Diabetes worsening COVID-19 fatalities in Africa

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says COVID-19-related deaths are higher in African patients with diabetes.

The global health body disclosed this on Thursday in an analysis on underlying conditions or comorbidities in Africans who tested positive for COVID-19.

The report explained that diabetes causes inflammation and poor blood circulation, “both of which increase the risk of complications, including death, from COVID-19”.

An estimated 24 million people are said to be living with diabetes in Africa, according to the International Diabetes Federation.

The WHO report says data evaluated from 13 countries showed a 10.2 percent fatality rate in patients with diabetes, compared with 2.5 percent for COVID-19 patients overall.

The report said the fatality rate for people with diabetes was also twice as high as the fatality rate among patients suffering from any comorbidity including patients with HIV and hypertension.

“Since the early days of the pandemic, people with diabetes in countries around the world have been prioritized to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Africa has faced challenges in this strategy,” the report reads.

“Access to vaccines remains poor. Thus far, only 6.6% of the African population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared with about 40% globally. Data from 37 countries indicates that since March 2021, over 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have gone to Africans with comorbidities, representing 14% of all doses administered so far.

“Efforts to prioritize people with comorbidities, like diabetes, are accelerating with about half of those 6.5 million doses administered in just the last couple of months. However, there is still a lot more work to be done to ensure people at high risk receive the vaccines they need.”

Commenting on the analysis, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the continent must act swiftly to prevent new cases.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually subside, but Africa is projected in the coming years to experience the highest increase in diabetes globally,” Moeti said.

“Nine months since COVID-19 vaccination campaigns began in Africa, we are still nowhere near where we need to be with protecting our most vulnerable. There is an urgent need to step up vaccination and other key services to people at high risk, including those with diabetes.”

The countries where data was drawn from are Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Guinea, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sao Tome and Principe, and Uganda.

The analysis was released ahead of World Diabetes Day on November 14.