Kampala — HEALTH officials have asked the Government to sensitise locals on the diabetes epidemic. Dr. Agatha Nambuya from Mulago Hospital said many people countrywide were ignorantly suffering from the epidemic.

She was presenting a paper on diabetes during a meeting of the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Friday.

"Nearly 1.9% of Ugandans are living with diabetes, but those aren't the only faces affected by the disease," Nambuya said.

In December 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a resolution recognising diabetes as a chronic, debilitating and costly disease.

"There is an increase in diabetes patients among people below 40 years. Even some babies are born with it. There is need for more sensitisation on how to control the disease," she said.