Gestational diabetes in rural East Africa: a call to action

The number of cases of diabetes worldwide has increased significantly in the last decade. Characteristically, the incidence of gestational diabetes (GDM) reflects the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the background population, which is a warning that a rapid increase in the incidence is to be expected concomitant with the already observed increase in the incidence of T2DM. Although the majority of all deliveries worldwide take place in the so-called developing world, little is known about the prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy in rural areas of East Africa. Diabetes in pregnancy has effects on prospects for marriage, motherhood, and the role of women in East African society. Furthermore, intrauterine exposure to the metabolic environment of maternal diabetes, or GDM, is associated with increased risk of altered glucose homeostasis in the offspring, beginning in childhood and producing a higher prevalence of GDM in the next generation with all burdens and complications being associated with this disease. It is reasonable to conclude that more newborn infants each year are being exposed to the metabolic environment of diabetes during intrauterine development as a result of changing incidence and demographics of diabetes and pregnancy. We believe that programs and policies have to be established, including organization of the health system to provide care, medicines, and other tools necessary for diabetes in pregnancy management, consideration of accessibility and affordability of care, education for healthcare workers, and education of pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age.