Diabetes in Sierra Leone | DW Documentary

In Sierra Leone, diabetes is both life-threatening and often undiagnosed. For 15-year-old diabetic Hawa and her family, finding life-saving insulin and doctors who know how to treat the disease has been a huge challenge.
Fifteen-year-old Hawa is severely ill with diabetes. She also lives in Sierra Leone, where there are just a handful of doctors for every 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. Clinics offering treatment to diabetics are especially rare in the West-African country, as is the life-saving drug insulin. Some of the medicine arrives in the country in suitcases, as private donations from wealthy countries. Another problem in Sierra Leone is a lack of information about the important of diet to those suffering from diabetes. Hawa fears being a burden to her family, but help is at hand.
#documentary #dwdocumentary #reporter #diabetes #sierraleone
______
DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch top documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary.
Subscribe to:
⮞ DW Documentary (English): / dwdocumentary
⮞ DW Documental (Spanish): / dwdocumental
⮞ DW Documentary وثائقية دي دبليو (Arabic): / dwdocarabia
⮞ DW Doku (German): / dwdoku
⮞ DW Documentary हिन्दी (Hindi): / dwdochindi
For more visit: www.dw.com/en/t...
Follow DW Documentary on Instagram: / dwdocumentary
Follow DW Documental on Facebook: / dwdocumental
We kindly ask viewers to read and stick to the DW netiquette policy on our channel: p.dw.com/p/MF1G

[@shawnandre5092]

I broke down a few minutes into this… my partner is type 1 diabetic and I see how he suffers and he has insulin and a proper diet but regardless it’s still brutal just imagine how she’s coping with nothing while being poor 😢.. I pray she gets the help she needs

[@clairehachey2189]

As a former nurse, I commend you for touching on this devastating disease. It is my hope that all those afflicted by it have access to information regarding detecting early signs of the disease and get the best possible treatment.

[@hassanmattia7969]

Thank you for highlighting these issues. As a Sierra Leonean, this is not the only problem we face as a nation.

[@eustab.anas-mann9510]

Do you live there?

[@hassanmattia7969]

@@eustab.anas-mann9510 , yes I do.

[@bladimirrojas2712]

I'm sorry that sierra Leonan are going through this disease. How life is like there? I live in the U.S currently but coming from a poorest country in Central America ( Nicaragua)

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and for sharing your experiences!

[@Drogoneante]

I can adopt that girl as my daughter but here in argentina thing are really bad they dont give our meds and is gettin worse i offer food and a place to live she is like me 😢

[@cristidenis531]

Thank you DW. Please can you also provide some contact information or link so that we can donate some money for this urgency ? Especially for this girl since she has her entire future at risk. We can't let these people lives go to waste. We can change something if we work together

[@futureofhealthforlife]

we should talk, I create tv shows on diabetes, there needs to be some series change and exposure

[@cristidenis531]

@@futureofhealthforlife Agreed. I want to see some changes, awareness or voluntary work in these countries would benefit many. How should we have a conversation? Mail?

[@sylsyl8838]

Please

[@futureofhealthforlife]

@@sylsyl8838 sad to say my work in diabetes could help many lives, but we live in a world that does not care about those living with this disease, poor people in africa with diabetes is last on their list. Billions are being made and thats all they care about.

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@paleraluswinga]

brought to tears, healthcare should be available to everyone.

[@sitaramareddy1965]

Thank You DW ! I know as an insulin dependent diabetic, how dangerous to live with diabetes. I felt sorry about Hawa. Just in the teens how she is living with the deadly disorder. Thanks to my country India 🇮🇳 ! In the diabetes context helping the poorest of the poor. Hope every diabetic should get government support through out the Universe 😢.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and sharing you thoughts :)

[@Oscar.Blake1]

Please you guys should always have a donation link for those willing to help support girls or people in need like Hawa.

[@薬物クシュロードバンディクート]

Ikr I'm searching like where is it?

[@HebaruSan]

There are others with the same problem, so maybe donations could be sent to the organizations that are trying to help all of them. It sounds like Hawa was helped by a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life" if you want to look them up and donate.

[@모-q4z]

This just breaks my heart. I wish I could do something to help.

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@alfredogubalane]

My heart is breaking right now on what I've seen in this documentary. 😭💔

[@Burtejunior]

Thank you DW for sharing this, I'm with type 1 diabetes i know the consequences very well , i wish i could help them.

[@augubee9063]

This is obviously a human right interest story. I pray she survives of this deadly disease.

[@fatoumjammeh2003]

It's make me sad seeing how us the diabetes patients are suffering with no help

[@praxym9293]

I'm diabetic. I can only imagine the pain she is going through. I hate my body too.It's painful especially if there are no meds.I just left the hospital four days ago and can barely afford meals or meds

[@chiefjusticeproductions6205]

I am happy it is finally out, it mean a lot for my country.

[@kimlee3158]

What a wicked world where billionaires don't even help. Sick

[@ygg5476]

are they even aware?

[@musethashonisani1537]

You can’t help everyone.. I’m sure they are doing something to help.. but they may not be aware of such catastrophic pledge of diabetes threatening the population. In SA, the health system provides an access to insulin and preventions though some still die. Thus, this is a perplexing disease that wipes populations 😭

[@SafiyoSalat-xc9nd]

Is their choice to helped them or not

[@KOMANDO254]

How can we help Hawa please

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@timamans3371]

I from Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 we have poor medicine system, we are lost so many people.this break my heart ❤️

[@A__Mina]

💔 I wanna help her so bad 🥺

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@alhassanrauf1165]

Thank you DW documentary for this.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@embracingdiabetes71]

I've lived with T1D for 38 years and can't imagine not having access to insulin. Where can I send un-used insulin pens? I have supplies I can donate!!

[@muhamadfaizal2006]

DW Documentary ❤️

[@SakshiSingh-xq1ze]

It's commendable job to raise this issue 👏👏👏

[@eji_me]

Is there anyway to support hawa?

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@ksidnfurnekaoajdbdjfkn]

Hawa's determination and the assistance she receives inspire us to work towards better healthcare accessibility for all, ensuring that no one has to face such burdens alone. Let's continue to support and advocate for improved diabetes care, making a difference in the lives of individuals like Hawa.

[@kristelmaguysio8109]

How is Hawa doing? Is there any way to follow up with her current health status?

[@godlymillenials84]

@ dw offer a link for people to donate

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@lleston8927]

Is there a way to help people in Sierra Leone afflicted by the disease?

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@barbie503]

How can we help her

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@Maktheblade]

Incredible content as always, thank you.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@aubiergebikoi2124]

I hope she gets the proper help and treatment. Especially in Africa. T1d is not a joke and I was and still am being stereotyped about it often asked " why do you have it?" Or being told " shame on you" by a lot if people for that , even after 30 years. God help her and God bless her

[@HebaruSan]

Shame on people who say those things to you in ignorance. I hope you have a treatment regime that works for you and supports your health. Best wishes.

[@boxerfencer]

Most deaths are type II diabetes? Does that mean most diabetes cases are of this type? When did a marked increase of cases start? Was that when a western diet and sedentary lifestyle was adopted? Type II is a lifestyle and dietary composition issue, which makes me think Sierra Leone should invest in basic food sciences and lifestyle education with their public, as well as invest in guaranteeing access to an affordable and nutritious array of food.

[@ahmedyasin4125]

Diabetes type II iso more common than type I, the is the reason of high death numbers. But actually type II is less worse than type I as you may know.

[@HebaruSan]

Type 2 is roughly 10x more common. So there are more deaths, but a smaller proportion of the people with that type.

[@embracingdiabetes71]

Insulin for Life?

[@Abundance26]

If only there's a way to contribute to her insulin medication 😢

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@aikanae1]

The inhumanity of humanity. How does a medicine with no patent ends up controlled by only 3 companies for the entire world?

[@HebaruSan]

The original slow-acting version (commonly called "regular") still has no patent. Those 3 companies created and patented faster-acting insulins (called "aspart" or "lispro"), which are much better to use because they more closely approximate how the body digests food and how natural insulin works. But even the unpatented kind would be far better for the girl in the video than nothing at all.

[@peakz8548]

Those patents have since expired and generics (biosimilars) have entered this market.

[@Mjixa]

This is what we need USAID for health community reach. Most importantly, what can be the cause of diabetes in Sierra Leone ? Might be local diet ( high in starch, carbohydrates, sugar etc…)

[@carwofat1901]

Based on this young girls symptoms, she actually has type 1 diabetes, which is pretty different from type 2. For type 1 there is no reason why people get it. People don't know, that's why there's no known long term cure for the time being. It is a chronic auto-immune disease that doesn't have anything to do with your diet.

[@Mohammed96134]

🥺 Heart breaking

[@halinakozlowska2672]

Yes, do you know that is easy to get rid of diabetics?

[@samuelmundangobeh1597]

Help Madina UK Team is doing great with the Diabetes issues. Thank you

[@futureofhealthforlife]

Sad to say my work in diabetes could help many lives, but we live in a world that does not care about those living with this disease, poor people in africa with diabetes is last on their list. Billions are being made and thats all they care about.

[@sopek1427]

How do they get diabetes if theres no soft drinks? Im curious

[@HebaruSan]

Type 1 diabetes is not diet related. The immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys the body's ability to produce insulin. (Sometimes this is genetic, and other times it is random. It's suspected that it can be caused by some viruses, although this is not proven. That means that anyone, including YOU, could wake up tomorrow and need the same treatment.)

[@Mbusowabalondo]

How can we help save people's lives😭

[@HebaruSan]

She apparently received insulin from a Dutch charity called "Insulin for Life," so you could look them up and send a donation.

[@thasleemfrank3690]

interesting

[@mamerh]

mayAllah grant dem shifa

[@HebaruSan]

It is obscene to try to treat T1D without insulin, and essentially blame her for EATING FOOD, simply because the patient is from a poor area. Thanks for making me angry, DW.

[@DarkGT]

What could be the cause for the raising number of diabetes cases? (apart from genetics and the larger number of confirmed and tested people).

[@theallseeingeye9388]

Western corporations in the food industry. Coke Pepsi for an example. Their enormous effects are multiplied in countries where general knowledge about diet and health are as scarce as a local functioning healthcare system. Diabetes or lifestyle disease decimating the Samoan Islander population documents the effects of processed and high calorie foods in third world nations. The availability of processed or refined sugar on the cheap has impacted the world that rivals the tobacco industry.

[@DarkGT]

@@theallseeingeye9388 Yes, the common enemy - sugar drinks and bad food. Coca Cola does the same thing for the population in Mexico, there is great documentary about Mexico as well. I would expect those poor people to afford to buy less carbonated drinks.

[@cezani]

That is the crux of this documentary.. what is the root cause and how to stem this disease.. everything else is secondary in my opinion.

[@HebaruSan]

For type 2 diabetes, the causes are largely what is speculated above, a high-carb diet that over time reduces the body's insulin sensitivity, correlated with genetics to some degree. For type 1 diabetes, as for the girl in the video, this is not the cause. The immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys the body's ability to make insulin. If you are serious about wanting to determine the cause, look up the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and send them a hefty donation for further research.

[@HolloMatlala1]

🙏🏽

[@carolynfehr]

The 1% could resolve this quickly! It’s high time we stop supporting these few who can help and don’t!

[@worldofants8053]

I wish these documentaries would desist from saying 1 of the poorest countries kmt

[@danifranc7011]

It is

[@janklaas6885]

📍8:27

[@MWEric]

June 2003 diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetic four months later lost my job 33months later March 1st,2006 marriage ended but found out April 7,2007 when Divorce papers arrived by regular mail. since then have had infected bone small toe removed from right foot retina detachment in left eye had surgery lens implant interesting experience having a retina detachment. currently be 15 months as of December 2023 to get cataract surgery....why the wait I asked to be sedated during the procedure they expected me to be awake for the 2.0-2.5 hour my being sedated has caused issues.

[@siimasworld8826]

so sorry for your predicament.

[@booblam6919]

As a Jamaican....I will say this....human being must be free from sickness. God be with you continually.

[@NTM629]

First to say thank you ❤

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@mamerh]

boil green tea in a concentrated manner den drink it twice daily before eating in the morning and 2 hrs after eating in the night den exersice daily trust me it works

[@HebaruSan]

I drink 3-5 liters of green tea every day, and it has made no difference whatsoever for my type 1 diabetes.

[@helveciobrenolinssobreira6410]

Why is DW translating to English even when they are speaking English???

[@lucylucy2171]

Because the accent might make it hard for some people to understand 😊

[@helveciobrenolinssobreira6410]

@@lucylucy2171 African English accent is the easiest accent to be understood.

[@lucylucy2171]

@@helveciobrenolinssobreira6410 to some it may not he though

[@musiclover1122-s7o]

I agree that it wasn't necessary to have dubbed English over what people were speaking in English. Enough with perpetuating European British English accents when English is more spoken by people as a non-native language than as a native language. Subtitles in English could accompany the original voice if deemed necessary. I enjoyed the documentary, but felt it painted Sierra Leone in a very poor light and didn't address any of the history of European colonization and exploitation and barely touched on the power of the Global North pharmaceutical industry.

[@TranNguyenVungLay]

Rich countries got diabetes, poorest countries got diabetes. Does gene involve our human activity ? I double about what doctors advises told us to get exercise, walking.

[@dominic6055]

bad food, not genes

[@TranNguyenVungLay]

@@dominic6055 thanks

[@samuraab5529]

6:20 pm 11/20/2023 this is really pathetic

[@yayatletis14]

😢😮‍💨😭

[@sammiew06]

What an unlikely illness for such a poor country. If diabetes is actually about toxins then it actually makes sense.

[@annarudkowska9453]

Type 1 is an autoimmune illness, type 2 could be self inflicted or genetic. It is not caused by any toxins.

[@colleenpeck6347]

Her teeth are falling pit from severe gingivitis . She desperately needs a dentist!

[@colleenpeck6347]

Falling out!

[@veronicasawicki1004]

There's very little in the way of dental care in Sierra Leone

[@marshcreek4355]

Seriously? Sierra Leone is an impoverished nation and one of the most underdeveloped in the world. Add that to a lack of quality education systems (ignorance) and political corruption, people are just trying to make it. At a 60% poverty level good dental care is the least of people's worries. Just trying to survive.

[@marshal1808]

👋🙏 sometimes doctors and the pharmaceutical industry create solutions to problems that are "not real."

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

👐🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

🧫🥼🧪

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

🏫

[@ДенисДементьев-т3о]

So disgusting, when ex-colonisators hypocritically sorry to previously colonised people.

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

🥝🥗🥙🍲🌯🥚🥚🥚

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

🛏🖋✒🇮🇴

[@rakeshmohanty7243]

Ayurveda, yoga , and intermittent fasting have helped my Dad control diabetes.

[@carwofat1901]

She has type 1, which has nothing to do with fasting or anything like that. Type 1 is auto-immune and chronic, and is not caused by a persons life style.

[@HebaruSan]

Yoga and other new age nonsense will do sweet F-all for type 1 diabetics. The body cannot function well without insulin.

[@aedsell]

I wish they had addressed WHY diabetes is spreading globally. I have my ideas, but I wanted it spoken.

[@salenddeo9099]

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[@BrianBlake-do2gj]

Oh No! Anyway...

[@eustab.anas-mann9510]

More news at 11

[@madame4883]

You invested time in leaving a dismissive comment in hopes of getting a few internet “haha”. How sad.

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

No, incorrect information. Diabetics can go hypoglycemic and need sugar handy to avoid coma.

[@veronicasawicki1004]

hypoglycemia brought on by insulin and oral hypoglycaemic agents. Otherwise, diabetes does not present with hypoglycemia

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

@@veronicasawicki1004 brain disorders can also cause hypoglycemia

[@veronicasawicki1004]

@@elizabethhurtado2829 but that is not diabetes

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

@@veronicasawicki1004 diabetics can go into diabetic shock, look it up

[@elizabethhurtado2829]

@@veronicasawicki1004 there are 2 types of diabetes and hypoglycemic shock is real

[@DaysGoneBye-q5j]

Nobody Cares.

[@madame4883]

You obviously did! You clicked and commented. Regardless if it was negative, you still cared enough to do that. 👍🤣

[@TheStockwell]

. . . about you. 🙄

[@eveww]

​@@madame4883 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 excellent reply..

[@Roman-nu1om]

Admittedly I was thinking the same. Even if proper medicine was provided from outside sources many of these people lack the compliance taking them regularly thus all going to waste. There's far more severe problems than diabetes anyway, better focus on that.

[@PJ-fl3do]

Listen “Days gone by” you could have let days continue to go by instead of clicking the video goof ball lol

[@samnuck]

The irony is that in Western countries like the US, the average person cant afford the overpriced medicines 😓

[@bearbones4347]

America is shameful. If u send money here america will steal the money

[@marshcreek4355]

Two things. First, we've got politicians (Republican Party) and corporations in the U.S. who would be perfectly ok with their citizens living in poverty and ignorance just like the citizens in this documentary. That's as long as they personally make money and stay in power. Second, we've already got one of the major drug companies and manufacturer of insulin, Merck, that's suing the U.S. Government (Medicare) for capping insulin prices at $35.00 based on a recent bill Congress passed. They don't care if people can't afford their products and have to scramble to live.

[@wendywong3115]

whats the point she knows her problem has no funds todo anything about it start planning your funeral