Windhoek mother Edwina Engelbrecht has shared the pain of giving her son Elvin (6) twice-daily insulin injections and struggling with the high cost of a diabetic diet and medication with The Namibian.
She says Elvin was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last December – on the same day he fell ill.
“He was very sick and lost his appetite on that day. When we got to the hospital, after his vitals were taken, his sugar level was extremely high.
“That was when they told me he is diabetic,” Engelbrecht says.
She says Elvin started with his prescribed medication immediately upon his diagnosis.
Support from both family and friends has been great, the self-employed mother says. The first stage was hard though, since the medication had to be injected.
“The most challenging part was seeing him cry and in pain when injecting him. Seeing him cry was the hardest part for me as a mother.
“He has gotten used to it now and has started asking me questions about when he would fully recover and not need the injections any more.”
Elvin has to take his medication twice daily.
Another challenge is the cost of the medication, Engelbrecht says.
“The hospital does not have diabetes medication and we buy from private pharmacies most of the time.
“His father and I spend N$2 500 every month plus nearly N$5 000 every second month on injections.”
Engelbrecht says she learnt how to manage the condition and constantly monitors Elvin’s blood sugar level.
“I knew about diabetes. I just did not expect it to happen the way it did,” she says.
Engelbrecht says the government’s social grant of N$1 600 per month for her son’s condition is not enough. She’s appealing to the government to increase the grant to at least N$3 000 per month.
“I appreciate the once-off counselling we as parents received, but I believe the health ministry must help more. There are families that do not have any income at all, and this condition requires one to have money for both medication and food,” she says.
‘HEALTHY FOOD IS EXPENSIVE’
She says maintaining a strict and healthy diet as advised by doctors is nearly impossible.
“We just sometimes feed our son what we eat, because we cannot afford the healthy food required for a diabetic. Unhealthy food is more affordable.
“My partner and I are advised to avoid sugary foods and beverages and rather replace it with fish, meat and wholegrain foods, which we cannot always afford,” she says.
Engelbrecht says the condition has called for some lifestyle adjustments.
Our son no longer visits friends and family for sleepovers, because they may not understand his treatment or how to manage his condition, but the way they treat and care for him has not changed.
Birthdays are tricky, with Engelbrecht stuck between making her son happy with cake and considering his health.
“It is also risky to allow my son to take part in physical activities at school, since some teachers are not trained to handle a child when they get a seizure or in case he needs special attention,” she says.
Engelbrecht advises parents to take their children for regular check-ups and not wait until they get sick – something she says she overlooked in the past.
She says both Elvin’s grandfathers are diabetic.
RISING TREND
The Ministry of Health and Social Services last week in a media statement announced it has recorded 122 cases of diabetes in children under the age of five in the past year.
The ministry says 377 teenagers were also diagnosed with the condition in the 2024/25 financial year.
Health minister Esperance Luvindao says the rising trend of diabetes among children is alarming and requires urgent lifestyle changes and stronger prevention measures.
“Diabetes is no longer a disease affecting only adults, we are now seeing it in children and adolescents, and that is deeply concerning. We must act now,” she said at a World Diabetes Day event in Windhoek recently.
Luvindao said overall, 6 844 new cases of diabetes were recorded in the 2024/2025 financial year.
She said nearly 7% of adults in Namibia, close to 90 000 people, are currently living with diabetes.
Although slightly fewer than the 8 073 cases reported in the previous year, the ministry says the figures reflect a growing burden, especially among children and young people.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines type 1 diabetes as an autoimmune condition in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin. It requires daily insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn’t make enough of it, and is often linked to factors like being overweight and physical inactivity.