Mrs Bola Obasanjo, the wife of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, has encouraged governments to assist diabetes patients in need at all levels.
Obasanjo bemoaned the high costs associated with treating diabetes, adding that the patients needed assistance from governments and charitable organisations.
She made this statement during a two-day diabetes camp for young people in Ogun State hosted by the Talabi Diabetes Center. 29 people from six different states throughout the nation attended the camp.
She said, “Now, those people from Jigawa State, I think there should be follow-up.
“Is it possible to make the help needed from the ministers and commissioners of their states known because they need some help? It is costly to manage, and at the same time, it is not that costly.
“When you don’t tell them (the governments) they won’t know. They have so many other things doing. You help them first and they’ll help you.”
She further advised the participants to take to the life skills lessons given to them to maintain and survive the disease like her husband, Obasanjo.
“There is no disease that is not deadly, but at the same time, if you manage it very well, you will live your life fully. And nobody will know that you have an illness as long as you maintain and do the right thing at the right time.
“The food you eat is what you are. As a diabetic patient, you don’t eat sugary and starchy food.
“The education you have given them is very good but we need to support them. The governments of their states need to support them in feeding, education, in so many ways. What they wear is also very important because they must not have any cuts.”
Meanwhile, a diabetic specialist, Dr Olubiyi Adeshina, who was also the Ogun State coordinator of the Centre, stated that the camp was organised to educate the participants on how to live with the disease.
Adeshina noted that the participants are mostly young people with Type-1 diabetes.
He said, “We have organised this camp for young people with Type-1 diabetes to equip them with life skills to manage Type-1 diabetes for the rest of their lives.
“Once you have diabetes, it is not curable; it is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life.
“And Type-1 diabetes, we tend to see it in children and adolescents. It can also occur in adults but it is very rare. So, what we have done here is to gather 21 young people.”