Preamble: The Annual Ogun State Youth Diabetes Camp is a collaborative effort between Talabi Diabetes Centre, Isara Remo, the late Dr Abi Afonja Trust, the Ogun State Chapter of Diabetes Association of Nigeria, the Ogun State Chapter of the Association of Paediatric Endocrinologists of Nigeria, the Youth Development Centre of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta and the Non-Communicable Diseases desk of the Ogun State Ministry of Health.The second edition held between Sunday, 21st August 2022 and Thursday 25th August 2022.
Attendance: the program which held at the Youth Development Centre, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria had 35 attendees from 6 States across Nigeria viz; Jigawa, Kaduna, Ondo, Oyo, Lagos and Ogun. Twenty seven were young people between the ages of 12 and 26 years living with Type 1 diabetes, two care-givers and five mothers of young people living with diabetes.
Programme of activities: The following lectures were delivered by Paediatric Endocrinologists, a person who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for over three decades, a Clinical Psychologist, a Dietitian and a Physiotherapist:
- What is Type 1 diabetes? – Dr. Ronke Akinola
- Prevention and treatment of hypoglycaemia. – Dr. Tutu Oyewole
- Importance of self-monitoring of blood glucose levels. – Mr. Michael Egbo
- Coping with life-long Type 1 Diabetes. – Dr. Eunice Awokoya
- Exercise and management of diabetes. – Dr. Idayat Oguntade
- Thriving with Type 1 diabetes. – Nkiruka Vivian Okoro
- Insulins and mode of Insulin delivery. – Dr. Sola Adekoya
- Diabetes sick days. – Dr. Idayat Oguntade
- The person with Diabetes at School. – Dr. Tutu Oyewole
- Role of diet in the management of Type 1 diabetes.- Dietitian Temple Ajayeoba
The participants also had a discussion session tagged “My experience with Type 1 diabetes” where they shared their experiences, challenges and successes with self-management.
There were lots of fun activities for the participants which included aerobic exercises, a visit to the Presidential Library, the Presidential Museum, the Presidential Zoological gardens and interesting cinemas at the Youth Development Centre Cinema House.
The closing ceremony was graced by Mrs Bola Obasanjo, the wife of former President Obasanjo who was at the previous year’s closing ceremony. She shared the tips that had made the former President to manage his diabetes successfully and encouraged the participants to follow all the advice given to them during the camp and to fortify themselves for the challenges ahead so that they will achieve their goals despite living with Type 1 diabetes.
Before declaring the camp closed, Mrs Obasanjo gave a scholarship to one of the participants and also asked the Jigawa State Ministry of Health to establish contact with her as she will want to support young people with Type 1 Diabetes in the State.
Dr. Olubiyi Adesina
Camp Coordinator.
