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COVID-19 AMONG REASONS FOR INSULIN SHORTAGE - MINISTER

By NKOSINGIPHILE MYENI | 2023-01-09

Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, has assured the public that they are working around the clock to get insulin supplies to normalise the situation.

The minister expressed her concerns with the rising number of diabetic people and that diabetes created difficulties for the population.

She revealed that the Mbabane Government Hospital alone attends to 180 clients per week.
She said although the number of patients in the government database being treated for diabetes could not be disclosed, they account for one of the higher intensities among the non-communicable diseases burden.

Nkosi said the country last conducted the STEPS survey in 2014, which revealed a 14.2 per cent prevalence of diabetes in the population.
She explained that the shortage was caused by suppliers who closed shops for the festive holidays.

She said local suppliers as well as the surging COVID-19 were major causes of the disruption of the supply chain.

“The shortage of insulin is one of the supply chain challenges that are as a result of interruptions from COVID-19 and delayed delivery of the insulin by local suppliers,” she said.
Nkosi said the ministry was inundated with health facilities’ reports of a shortage of certain types of insulin.

“The ministry has been discussing with the suppliers on how this can be sorted. However, the festive holidays came up during which supply companies had to close,” she said.

She further stated that discussions with suppliers included the alternatives of getting the supplies into the country, adding that the ministry was in constant touch with them and requested that they urgently deliver.

Nkosi said orders were made last year and this day was unanticipated.
The minister advised that patients should not relent but continue to visit the nearest health facilities if they felt unwell.

She said health facilities were still open for advice, treatment and diabetes management, adding that while medicines were critical, they alone were not the overall package.

“The management of diabetes requires constant self-monitoring of the blood sugar, which is not possible because the self-testing or home testing tools are unaffordable for most of the diabetes sufferers in the country,” the minister said.

Nkosi said dietary control for diabetes was challenging to diabetic persons due to the poor practice of eating a diversified diet among the population.

“Diabetes is a difficult disease to treat, thus the failure of prevention approaches, resulting in high obesity trends in the population and a major cause of diabetes in adults,” she said.
The common reasons that diabetic patients may visit health facilities include hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), hypoglycaemia (low sugar) emergencies and other complications.

The minister further stated that the burden of non-communicable diseases was a growing public health threat not only in the country but globally.

She said diabetes management required constant self-monitoring of the blood sugar and costs implications for people living with diabetes.

The minister said the costs of diabetes prevalence in the country had not yet been quantified due to the complexity of the disease process and the tendency of existence of co-morbidities, making it more challenging to isolate purely diabetes treatment and management costs.
She said the analysis was still possible but not yet confirmed.
Adding, she said the ministry was preparing to conduct another STEPS survey this year.

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