WHO Says Diabetes Makes Africa More Vulnerable To Death From COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccination at Accra Ridge Hospital, Ghana. (Wikimedia Commons/WHO/Blink Media/Nana Kofi Acquah)

JAKARTA - The death rate from COVID-19 infection is much higher among diabetic patients in Africa, where the number of people with diabetes is growing rapidly, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.

An analysis of WHO data from 13 African countries found that the death rate for cases of COVID-19 infection in diabetics reached 10.2 percent, compared to an overall COVID-19 death rate of only 2.5 percent.

"COVID-19 conveys a clear message: fighting the diabetes epidemic in Africa is in many ways as important as the battle against the current pandemic," said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa in a statement.

The WHO further explains, it is estimated that around 70 percent of people with diabetes on the continent are not aware that they have the disease.

Meanwhile, the number of people with diabetes in Africa is expected to jump to 55 million by 2045 from 24 million this year, according to estimates by the International Diabetes Federation.

Data from Africa on the increased susceptibility of diabetics to death from COVID-19 reflects global trends. A Reuters investigation this year reported that the pandemic had revealed the United States had lost its public health battle against diabetes for more than a decade.

As of Thursday, Africa had recorded more than 8.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 220,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

Meanwhile, less than 7 percent of the African population have received the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, compared to about 40 percent globally, the WHO said.