Metrics details. Awareness of various aspects of Diabetes Mellitus DM is essential for the prevention, management and control of the disease. However, several studies have consistently shown that awareness of DM in the general population is low. None of these studies, however, was conducted in The Gambia, even though the condition constitutes a major public health problem in the country.
Few respondents knew that DM can lead to kidney failure Level of education, duration of illness and knowledge of a family member with diabetes were important predictors of knowledge in our study. Hence, there is need for conscious efforts towards improving the level of awareness through health education and promotion, not limited to the hospital but also within the general population, as part of strategies to prevent, manage and control DM.
Peer Review reports. Diabetes Mellitus DM has emerged as one of the most challenging public health problems in the 21 st century. It currently affects over million people worldwide and this figure is likely to double by [ 1 , 2 ]. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, there are about 12 million people suffering from this condition and there are projections that this number will reach 18 million by , making the region the one with the fastest growing rates of diabetes mellitus in the world [ 2 , 4 ]. In the Gambia for instance, the incidence of DM has been projected to increase by three-fold within this period; that is from 22, cases in to 61, by [ 5 ].
This silent, but imminent, public health problem would impose substantial challenges on the healthcare systems as well as on the economy of most developing nations in the near future.
This is because a significant proportion of individuals who suffer from the condition in these countries are within the reproductive age [ 1 , 6 ].
