The National Health Facility Survey 2023 carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics said the national percentage of facilities providing diabetes services was 13.9 per cent, while that of those with National Diabetes Guidelines stood at 3.8 per cent.
The figures highlight the gap between service provision and guideline adherence in diabetes care across the country.
According to the report, the South-South zone leads in both categories, with the highest percentage of facilities offering diabetes services at 22.0 per cent and 4.9 per cent of facilities with NDG.
“In contrast, the North-East zone had the lowest percentage of facilities with National Diabetes Guidelines at 1.8 per cent. The disparities in both diabetes service provision and guideline adherence across states, zones, and facility types underscore the importance of a coordinated approach to improving diabetes care nationwide.
“States with high percentages of facilities providing diabetes services and adhering to National Diabetes Guidelines can serve as models for best practices, offering valuable insights into effective strategies for diabetes care delivery,” the report stated.
States like Edo (42.4 per cent), FCT (43.9 per cent) and Rivers (45.7 per cent) have relatively high percentages, indicating better diabetes service provision.
On the other hand, Kaduna (1.9 per cent), Gombe (2.4 per cent), and Nasarawa (3.6 per cent) showed significantly low percentages, suggesting potential gaps in service delivery in these areas.
“In terms of facility types, secondary facilities generally have a higher percentage of providing diabetes services compared to primary facilities,” it added.
Across all facility types, the survey also showed that the national percentage of facilities with NDG was 3.8 per cent.
At zonal level, South-South had the highest at 4.9 per cent, while North-East had the lowest at 1.8 per cent.
“In the states, the highest percentage of health facilities that have NDG are Zamfara (20.0 per cent), Sokoto (17.4 per cent) and FCT (16.4 per cent). On the other hand, Oyo (0.2 per cent), Osun (0.3 per cent), and Kaduna (0.4 per cent) had the lowest percentages.
“The data also revealed that secondary facilities tend to have higher percentages of NDG implementation compared to primary facilities. There is a notable variation in guideline adherence across different types of facilities, indicating the need for targeted interventions to improve compliance in specific facility types,” it said.
The survey also revealed that only 12.1 per cent of public health facilities in Nigeria offer hypertension services.
“Considering that an estimated 31.2 per cent of Nigerians suffer from hypertension and 11 per cent of deaths in the country are due to hypertension-related complications, there is a pressing need to significantly increase the capacity of facilities providing both preventive and curative hypertension management.
“Investing in improving hypertensive care will greatly improve Nigeria’s overall health index,” it noted.
