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By 2013, about 300,000 Ghanaians had diabetes, the Head of Diabetes Unit of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in the Western Region, Dr Nana Ama Barnes, has said. According to Dr Barnes, the 2013 Health Statistics described the situation as alarming and indicated that the number of Ghanaians living with diabetes would increase if public awareness was not intensified. She was speaking on �Promoting Community Awareness of Diabetes� during the inauguration of a seven-member board of the Central Regional Diabetes Association (CEREDA-GH) in Cape Coast yesterday. The board members are: Mrs Nancy Abiwu, Chairperson; Mr Emmanuel Amoah, Vice-Chairperson; Mr Daniel Bright Ntoh-Kwafo, Secretary; Mrs Grace Anomafo, Vice-Secretary, Mr Joseph Benjamin Rockson, Financial Secretary; Mrs Catherine Coffie, Organiser and Mrs Gifty Coleman, Treasurer. Misinformation about diabetes Dr Barnes said many Ghanaians had diabetes but due to the fact that they did not have much knowledge about the disease, they did not seek help until their situation got out of hand. �The most worrying aspect of the whole thing is that many people do not know that they have the disease,� she said. She, however, expressed worry about speculations that the disease was acquired through the excessive use of sugary foods, and said �it is not only eating sugary foods that will cause the disease but there are other causative factors�. According to her, the over-reliance of diabetic patients on untrained people for advice is frustrating the efforts of doctors to help diabetics. �Some of the patients prefer to listen to ordinary people who have no medical background for expert views on the disease rather than listen to what doctors say. If you continue to behave like this, it will only worsen your condition� Dr Barnes stated. Dr Barnes also said the inability of some diabetics to take their prescribed medicines was another challenge for the doctors. She said the rationale for the formation of the association was to equip diabetics and other stakeholders with information on the disease so that they could help propagate it. She, therefore, challenged the leaders of the association to disseminate the information to a lot of people. Diabetes to increase globally Touching on the spread of the disease, the Head of Diabetic Unit of the Central Regional Hospital, Dr Emmanuel Amissah, said the world�s population of diabetic patients was likely to increase to 600, 000,000 in 2035 if proactive measures were not put in place to check its spread. �We need to spread the information on the disease to everyone so that we can all help in fighting diabetes,� he said. The General Secretary of CEREDA-GH, Mr Daniel Bright Ntoh-Kwafo, said �the myth that the disease is spiritual is preventing many people from seeking medical care�. Instead, they stay in prayer camps till their conditions worsen. �Diabetes is not a spiritual disease as speculated by some people. We need to educate our people on this,� he stated. According to him, some of the patients only go to hospitals when part of their bodies starts to decay. He said the association would therefore go to all the districts in the region to educate people on the disease.