Jordan celebrates today the World Diabetes Day, which falls on November 14 of each year. With the theme “The Nurse and Diabetes”, World Diabetes Day this year aims to raise awareness of the key role played by the nursing sector to support diabetes patients. As the number of diabetes patients around the world increases, the health sector, especially nurses, have become even more critical in order to manage the consequences of this condition.
In a special press release on this occasion, HPC secretary general, Dr. Abla Amawi, stressed the need to shed light on diabetes, which is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower limb amputation. As the world marks this day during the Covid-19 pandemic this year, Amawi noted that recent studies have shown that diabetes patients are the most vulnerable to Covid-19 infection, due to their weak immune system. They are also the most vulnerable to respiratory system-related complications and death as well as severe symptoms that could lead to death.
Amawi said that according to Department of Statistics data for (2017-2018), the percentage of individuals living with diabetes (aged 60 and above) stands at 31.9% (29.3% males and 34.6 females). Amawi explained that there are several types of diabetes. Type 1 is childhood onset and its patients are insulin dependent, whereas type 2, which is more common in Jordan and around the world, is associated with obesity. There is also a third type of diabetes known as gestational diabetes that affects some women during pregnancy. The National Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics recommends that pregnant women who have high risk factors such as obesity, late age pregnancy and diabetes positive family history should take the oral glucose tolerance test. Therefore, diabetes poses a higher risk for females as it also reduces the protective effect of female hormones and makes females more susceptible to heart disease and renal diseases.
Amawi noted that According to the International Diabetes Federation, 55 million individuals aged 20-79 years old in the Middle East and North Africa region suffer from diabetes, i.e., 13% of the region’s population, which creates a burden on the health sector. This percentage is expected to increase to 39% by 2030.
Amawi further pointed out that according to WHO statistics, around 463 million individuals around the world have diabetes, and that most of them live in low and middle income countries. International Diabetes Federation figures also show that Jordan ranks 26 out of 195 countries in the prevalence of diabetes among the age group (20-79) and that these figures have increased in recent decades, resulting in 4.2 deaths worldwide and causing diabetes to be a major cause of death.
Amawi added that with the sharp increase in the prevalence of diabetes worldwide and the need for ongoing proper medical supervision and care to manage the disease and prevent serious complications, there is an urgent demand for more nurses, hence the theme for this year “the Nurse and Diabetes”. In the State of the World’s Nursing Report of 2020, the World Health Organization says the total number of nurses would need to increase by 8% per year in order to address the unsettling shortage by 2030. Moreover, according to WHO, 40% of the total investments needed to achieve the SDGs should go towards paying the wages of the health workforce.
in the statement,, HPC explained that in order to reduce the number of diabetes patients and mitigate its complications, integrated policies and impactful methods are needed, such as public health awareness campaigns at the community level, health service delivery quality standards, modern programs for screening diabetes, enabling diabetes patients and their families to control the disease and its complications, upgrading information systems and management, conducting research, and building professional capacities in this field.
