More than half of Kenyans living with metabolic disease are unaware of their condition, with national caseloads projected to double by 2050. This diagnostic gap emerged as the central theme at Convergence: The Metabolic Continuum, Refined by Design, a national clinical forum convened by Getz Pharma alongside the Kenya Association of Physicians (KAP) and the Hospital Pharmacists Association of Kenya (HOPAK).
Gathering nearly 200 healthcare professionals from referral centers and private practices across the country, clinicians warned that patients typically enter the health system only after developing severe cardiovascular, renal, hepatic, or visual complications—when treatments become costlier and far more complex.
According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF) data, over 813,000 Kenyan adults were living with diabetes in 2024, with 53.6% remaining undiagnosed. Furthermore, nearly one in three Kenyan adults is overweight or living with obesity, while national surveys indicate elevated blood pressure in 25.1% of men and 22.6% of women.
Medical experts at the forum emphasized the need to shift public and clinical perceptions surrounding metabolic conditions.
“Although obesity is recognized internationally as a chronic relapsing disease driven by biological, hormonal, genetic, and metabolic factors, it continues to be treated in public discussion as lifestyle failure,” said Dr. Erick Njenga, President of the Kenya Association of Physicians. “We continue to treat obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease as separate referrals when in our patients they are stages of one metabolic process. A patient should not have to develop heart failure before the system takes their weight seriously.”
Prof. Abbas Raza, immediate past President of the International Society of Endocrinology, echoed the call for structural changes in clinical approaches during his keynote address: “Kenya, and the whole world, is at a point where earlier intervention can still change the trajectory of chronic disease for a generation of patients. The health system needs to adapt and grow with the increasing evidence of holistic management.”
Addressing the diagnostic and therapeutic gaps requires both medical education and expanded treatment access.
“There is a significant access gap to diagnosis and treatment. Our role is to put the current science in front of the diagnosing physicians and keep supporting them as they look at metabolic disease as multi-faceted and intertwined,” noted Muhammad Ashad, Country Manager for Getz Pharma Kenya. “If earlier intervention is what changes outcomes, then knowledge is the first intervention.”
To support expanded management options, Getz Pharma announced the Kenyan launch of Zepad (Tirzepatide), a prescription-only dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist designed for the management of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and associated metabolic conditions.
With metabolic diseases accelerating across the region, clinicians at the forum agreed that early detection, integrated care models, and expanded access to targeted therapies will be vital to altering Kenya’s long-term public health trajectory.