The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for greater awareness, early diagnosis and access to affordable treatment to reduce the growing burden of diabetes across Africa.
Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, made the call in a statement ahead of World Diabetes Day, observed on Nov. 14. The 2026 theme is “Early Action on Diabetes.”
Janabi said diabetes was increasingly affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across Africa, many of whom were unaware they had the condition until serious complications developed.
He said early diagnosis and timely treatment were essential to prevent complications, reduce suffering and save lives. He urged governments and communities to prioritise diabetes care.
According to the International Diabetes Federation, an estimated 24.6 million adults aged 20 to 79 were living with diabetes in Africa in 2024. Janabi said the number was projected to rise to 59.5 million by 2050, underscoring the urgent need for stronger prevention, screening and treatment.
He expressed concern that nearly three in four adults with diabetes in the WHO African Region remained undiagnosed—the highest proportion globally. Undiagnosed diabetes, he warned, increased the risk of serious complications, including kidney failure, blindness, cardiovascular disease and lower-limb amputations.
Janabi urged the public to recognise common symptoms, including increased thirst, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, persistent tiredness and blurred vision. People experiencing these symptoms should seek testing and professional advice promptly, he said, and encourage family members and friends to do the same.
He also urged people at increased risk to undergo regular screening, noting that diabetes could develop without obvious symptoms.
Janabi called on communities to intensify awareness campaigns, share accurate information and challenge stigma and discrimination against people living with diabetes. He encouraged people with diabetes to share their experiences, support one another and motivate others to seek medical care early.
The WHO official urged healthcare workers to improve early recognition of symptoms, provide timely testing and deliver compassionate, patient-centred care. Each patient interaction, he said, offered an opportunity to promote prevention, improve diabetes management and prevent complications.
Janabi said WHO was supporting African countries to strengthen diabetes services in primary healthcare and first-level referral facilities through established technical programmes. These include the WHO Package of Essential Non-communicable Diseases (WHO PEN), the HEARTS technical package for cardiovascular disease, and HEARTS-D for diagnosing and managing Type 2 diabetes.
“Others include PEN-Plus, a regional strategy designed to address severe non-communicable diseases at first-level referral health facilities,” Janabi said.
He commended Rwanda for achieving nationwide, district-level coverage of PEN-Plus, describing it as an important step towards expanding access to essential non-communicable disease services.
However, he noted significant gaps across the region in access to trained healthcare workers, diagnostic services, essential medicines and continuous diabetes care.
Janabi urged African governments to prioritise diabetes prevention, early diagnosis and ongoing treatment within primary healthcare systems and universal health coverage programmes. Such efforts, he said, required sustained investment in public awareness, affordable insulin, essential medicines, diagnostic equipment, skilled health workers and reliable healthcare systems.
He also called on development partners, civil society organisations and the private sector to support country-led interventions, particularly in underserved communities.
Janabi reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to helping member states accelerate progress towards the 2030 targets of the Framework for the Implementation of the Global Diabetes Compact in the African Region.
Stronger collaboration among governments, healthcare professionals, communities and development partners was essential to improving diabetes prevention, diagnosis and treatment, he said.
Janabi urged individuals to learn the warning signs, seek testing and medical care early, and encourage others to do the same. Collective action, he said, could help build an Africa where diabetes is detected early and quality treatment is accessible to everyone.
He stressed that timely diagnosis and treatment could prevent avoidable complications, including blindness, limb loss and diabetes-related deaths.
