Price of insulin for diabetes patients shoots up

The price of insulin used by diabetes patients has shot up in the counties.

Doctors have warned that many patients may be going without regular medication due to the high prices.

Kenya Diabetes Management and Information Centre (DMI) chairman Nancy Ngugi said the devolution of health-care services has resulted in increased costs of insulin for patients suffering from diabetes and county governments are yet to subsidize the costs.

“Insulin used to cost between Sh1,500 to Sh1,800 a vial with the national government. They later subsidized (it) and it came down to Sh200 a vial, but then health care was handed to county governments and the price of insulin has now shot to Sh400 a vial. How many families can afford that? ” said Dr Ngugi on the sidelines of the Safaricom Diabetes Walk in Mombasa at the weekend.

ANTENATAL CLINICS

At the same time, DMI executive director Eva Muchemi warned expectant mothers who miss antenatal clinics that they risk having miscarriages and stillbirths as a result of unknown diabetes in their bodies.

“Many expectant mothers are having miscarriages and stillbirths as a result of having diabetes which they are not aware of, especially those who do not attend antenatal clinic and their blood sugar levels are not checked,” she said.

She also noted that there are still many cases of late diagnosis of diabetes in children and adults because some doctors do not examine patients well and because of assumptions that it is a disease that affects the older generation.

“When children fall ill, most of the times it is assumed that they are having malaria, typhoid and only when the illness has extended and results in amputation do doctors realize that it is actually diabetes affecting these patients,” she added.

UNHEALTHY EATING HABITS

Head of Non-Communicable Division Joseph Kibachio said about 2 million people are currently living with diabetes and Mombasa is among the top five regions with a large number of cases due to unhealthy eating habits and poor lifestyle practices.

Diabetes is a chronic condition characterised by high blood sugar, which is caused by deficient insulin production, resistance to insulin action or a combination of both.

Some of the symptoms of diabetes are frequent urination, excessive thirst, increased hunger, weight loss, tiredness, slow healing of wounds, vomiting and stomach pain, frequent infections and blurred vision.