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BACKGROUND	Previously considered as a disease of the affluent , west or urban people and not of public health importance , diabetes mellitus is increasingly becoming a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa .
BACKGROUND	However , population-based data to inform prevention , treatment and control are lacking .
METHODS	Using the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance , a population-based , nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted between July and September 2009 on participants aged 25-64 years .
METHODS	A multi-stage cluster sample design and weighting were used to produce a national representative data for that age range .
METHODS	Detailed findings on the magnitude of diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting blood glucose are presented in this paper .
RESULTS	Fasting blood glucose measurement was conducted on 3056 participants ( 70.2 % females , 87.9 % from rural areas ) .
RESULTS	The age - sex standardised population-based mean fasting blood glucose was 4.3 mmol/L ( 95 % CI 4.1-4 .4 mmol/L ) with no significant differences by age , sex and location ( urban/rural ) .
RESULTS	The overall prevalence of impaired fasting blood glucose was 4.2 % ( 95 % CI 3.0 % -5.4 % ) .
RESULTS	Prevalence of impaired blood glucose was higher in men than in women , 5.7 % ( 95 % CI 3.9 % -7.5 % ) vs 2.7 % ( 95 % CI 1.6 % - 3.8 % ) , p < 0.01 .
RESULTS	In both men and women , prevalence of raised fasting blood glucose or currently on medication for diabetes was 5.6 % ( 95 % CI 2.6 % - 8.5 % ) .
RESULTS	Although the prevalence of diabetes was higher in men than women , 6.5 % ( 95 % CI 2.6 % -10.3 % ) vs 4.7 % ( 95 % CI 2.4 % -7.0 % ) , in rural than urban , 5.4 % ( 95 % CI 2.4 % -8.4 % ) vs 4.4 % ( 95 % CI 2.8 % -5.9 % ) and in males in rural than males in urban , 6.9 % ( 95 % CI 2.8 % -11.0 % ) vs 3.2 % ( 95 % CI 0.1 % -6.3 % ) , the differences were not statistically significant , p > 0.05 .
RESULTS	Compared to previous estimates , prevalence of diabetes increased from < 1.0 % in 1960s to 5.6 % in 2009 ( this study ) .
CONCLUSIONS	High prevalence of impaired fasting blood glucose and diabetes mellitus call for the implementation of primary healthcare approaches such as the WHO package for essential non-communicable diseases to promote healthy lifestyles , early detection , treatment and control .

