By Alphonse RUTAZIGWA

Rwanda Non Communicable Diseases’ Alliance (RNCDA) in conjunction with Rwanda Diabetes Association (RDA) launched an advocacy campaign on 30^th July 2022, with regard to mobilizing the population about the dangers of non communicable diseases which include diabetes, cancer, heart diseases, respiratory diseases and mental diseases.

Ngabonziza Louis is the advocacy and communication officer in Rwanda Non Communicable Diseases Alliance, he attributes the risk factors which rises the vulnerability of diseases to lack of physical exercises, lifestyles, eating habits, such eating oily foods, fast foods, smoking, and alcohol, climate change, among others.

Ngabonziza highlighted on the importance of having regular medical checkups, because when they (NCDs) are detected when they are still in their early stages they can be easily managed, and some like cancer can be cured if diagnosed early, and in this context he lauded the Government of Rwanda for having enabled health centers to diagnose NCDs.

“It’s imperative to engage the media as a conduit for delivering message to the citizens, so that they become aware of the dangers of the disease, hence take precautionary measures. According to statistics, the mortality rate attributed to NCDs globally is 70% of the total deaths, but as far as Rwanda is concerned, with regard to the 2016 statistics, they accounted for 44%”, Ngabonziza reiterated.

Uwingabire Etienne is the Managing Director of Rwanda Diabetes Association, said that the dangers with diabetes is the fact that complications sometimes appear even before a diabetes patient realizes that he has it, he mentioned instances where some patients might become blind, due to the failure by the nerves to supply blood to the eyes, and amputations which some patients might endure, due to wounds which often times become septic, due to the above mentioned factors of poor blood supply by the nerves to the wound, hence raising susceptibility of becoming septic, thus leading to amputation of the limbs, be it legs or arms, Diabetes can further cause stroke, to a patient, which devastates the patient, which may cause him to stammer and tremble, Uwingabire pointed out.

The Managing Director of Rwanda Rwanda Diabetes Association reminded the public about the amount of sugar which a normal person ought to have as 70-120g/l of blood, whereas the blood pressure should be between 90-120, for a person with a normal blood pressure.

He further said that there are two (2) types of diabetes mainly type 1 diabetes, which is common among the people aged between 1-35, whereas type 2 diabetes is commonly synonymous with the adults, ie persons above the age of 35. However, Uwingabire said that sometimes aged people can suffer from type 1 diabetes, and the difference between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes is the fact that in type 1 diabetes, a patient pancreas doesn’t secrete any insulin at all, thereby rendering the patient to inject himself with insulin for the rest of his/her life, whereas in cases of type 2 diabetes , the patient’s pancreas secretes little insulin, which requires to be supplemented by injecting himself with either lente or rapid types of insulin.

He further cautioned pregnant women who are diabetic to be aware about the importance of checking their blood sugar level when their pregnancies are 24 weeks during gestation period, because when the sugar level rises it might give rise to complications.

Uzabakiriho Damascene is a father of 2 and an amputee as a result of diabetes, which he has been living with for the last 24 years. He developed a wound, which later on led to his leg being amputated.