Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that affects millions of people all over the world. It causes irreversible damage to many organs in the body while running a silent course, thus most sufferers present late to the hospital with multiple complications that impose a huge economic burden for the restoration of health to a near-normal state. This review aims to identify the most prominent barriers (hurdles) against optimum diabetes care despite significant improvements in DM care in Nigeria and highlights evidence-based recommendations/policies that are yet to be adopted for the advancement of diabetes care in Nigeria.
Methods: A literature search was performed using google, google scholar, and academia to gather literature on the subject. Observations from various studies, review articles and reports from international bodies such as World Health Organisation were reviewed. ‘Diabetes mellitus’, ‘prevalence’, ‘Nigeria’, ‘diabetes care’, ‘complications’, ‘burden’, ‘barriers’, and ‘health care schemes’ were used as keywords for the search.
Conclusion: In spite of the advancements that have been made in promoting diabetes care in Nigeria, poverty remains a major barrier to accessing optimum diabetes care. Many other barriers that were highlighted years ago are persistent till now in this recently conducted research. Therefore, efforts should be directed towards eradicating the already established recurrent barriers to diabetes care delivery in Nigeria, by implementation of evidence-based recommendations made by experts over the years.