More than half of Kenyans living with diabetes do not know they have the condition, with the country’s metabolic disease burden expected to double by 2050, health professionals have warned.
The concern was raised in Nairobi on Sunday, where about 200 healthcare professionals from referral centres, private hospitals and private practices gathered to discuss the growing burden of metabolic diseases and the need for earlier intervention.
The clinicians said many patients only enter the health system after developing complications affecting the heart, kidneys, liver or eyesight. By then, they noted, treatment becomes more complex and costly.
The warning came during
Convergence: The Metabolic Continuum, Refined by Design
, a national clinical forum convened by Getz Pharma in collaboration with the Kenya Association of Physicians (KAP) and the Hospital Pharmacists Association of Kenya (HOPAK).
Dr Erick Njenga, President, Kenya Association of Physicians (Left), Muhammad Ashad, Country Manager, Kenya, Getz Pharma (Second left), Dr Rosslyn Ngugi, President, Kenya Diabetes Study Group (third left) and Prof Abbas Raza, immediate former President of the International Society of Endocrinology, at Convergence: The Metabolic Continuum, Refined by Design, a national clinical forum that brought together about 200 healthcare professionals.PHOTO/Getz Pharma.
Muhammad Ashad, Getz Pharma's Country Manager for Kenya, said there was a significant gap in access to diagnosis and treatment.
“There is a significant access gap to diagnosis and treatment. Our role is to put the current science in front of the diagnosing physicians and keep supporting them as they look at metabolic disease as multi-faceted and intertwined,” he said.
“This makes treatment more effective for patients all over. If earlier intervention is what changes outcomes, then knowledge is the first intervention.”
The International Diabetes Federation estimates that just over 813,000 Kenyans were living with diabetes in 2024, with 53.6% of cases undiagnosed.
Nearly one in three Kenyan adults is also overweight or living with obesity, while national surveys show raised blood pressure in 25.1% of men and 22.6% of women.
Dr Erick Njenga, President of the Kenya Association of Physicians, said obesity should not be viewed simply as a failure of lifestyle choices.
“Although obesity is recognised internationally as a chronic relapsing disease driven by biological, hormonal, genetic, and metabolic factors, it continues to be treated in public discussion as lifestyle failure,” he said.
He argued that obesity, diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease should be addressed as interconnected conditions rather than separate health problems.
“A patient should not have to develop heart failure before the system takes their weight seriously,” he said.
Prof Abbas Raza, immediate past President of the International Society of Endocrinology, said earlier intervention could alter the course of chronic diseases for many patients.
“Kenya, and the whole world, is at a point where earlier intervention can still change the trajectory of chronic disease for a generation of patients,” he said.
The forum also marked the introduction of Getz Pharma's Tirzepatide, branded Zepad in Kenya, a prescription-only medicine for managing obesity, type 2 diabetes and related conditions.
Tirzepatide acts on the GIP and GLP-1 receptor pathways, offering a dual-action approach to blood sugar control and weight management.
Prof Raza said health systems needed to adapt as evidence increasingly supports holistic management of metabolic conditions to improve long-term patient outcomes.