Diabetes and COVID-19 in Nigeria: Clinical Outcomes, Risk Factors, and Lessons for Public Health Preparedness

Nambi Namusisi H.

School of Natural and Applied Sciences Kampala International University Uganda

                                                                                                ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disproportionately affected individuals with underlying noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), particularly diabetes mellitus (DM). Nigeria, which bears a rising burden of diabetes alongside infectious diseases, faced significant challenges in managing patients with metabolic comorbidities during the pandemic. This review examines the impact of diabetes on COVID-19 severity and mortality in Nigeria, analyzes contributory biological and socio-health system risk factors, evaluates Nigeria’s response to managing high-risk comorbid patients, and proposes strategies to strengthen resilience for future pandemics. Evidence indicates that diabetes significantly increased hospitalization rates, intensive care admission, complications, and mortality among Nigerian COVID-19 patients. Key mechanisms include immune dysregulation, chronic inflammation, hypercoagulability, endothelial dysfunction, and glycemic variability. Structural health system constraints— including limited ICU capacity, fragmented NCD services, medication supply disruptions, and poor risk communication—amplified adverse outcomes. Nigeria’s pandemic response demonstrated strengths in rapid public health coordination but exposed weaknesses in integrated chronic disease care and emergency preparedness. Future resilience requires integrated NCD-infectious disease surveillance, decentralized diabetes care models, telemedicine expansion, strengthened supply chains, targeted vaccination strategies, and risk-stratified emergency protocols. Addressing diabetes as a central pandemic vulnerability is essential for safeguarding population health in Nigeria and comparable low- and middle-income settings.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, COVID-19, Nigeria, Non-communicable diseases, Pandemic preparedness.

CITE AS: Nambi Namusisi H. (2026). Diabetes and COVID-19 in Nigeria: Clinical Outcomes, Risk Factors, and Lessons for Public Health Preparedness. IDOSR JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOTECHNOLOGY AND ALLIED FIELDS 11(3):42-47.
https://doi.org/10.59298/IDOSR/JBBAF/2026/1134247