Urgent summit open to all
“Instead of just telling people about diabetes in South Africa, we’ve invited all those living with and working with diabetes to join us in co-creating SA’s first Diabetes Charter which will be launched at the summit.
Type 2 diabetes was “too often explained away as a lifestyle condition ‒ that people who eat the wrong kind of food, don’t move enough and carry extra weight are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, she said. While this is true, the hereditary predisposition of Type 2 diabetes is a critical component.
Taking place ahead of World Diabetes Day on November 14, the goal of the summit is to “build back better” in terms of the SA response to diabetes. In June 2020, the Western Cape Department of Health found that “out of every 100 people within the public health care sector who died of Covid-19, 52 had diabetes, followed by 19 with hypertension and 12 with HIV”, while previous data indicated that in the 40-60 age bracket, diabetes was the leading comorbidity.