Table 6 Characteristics of included publications by region: Africa

Besancon (2015) [86]

Mali

Mali diabetic population following a March 2012 Coup in Bamako

Case Study

Diabetes

Spring 2012 following the March 2012 coup

–

Diabetics are a vulnerable population in humanitarian crisis due to their continuous need for health care and medicines and the financial burden this may place on them. In an emergency setting sub-populations of diabetics must be taken into account for humanitarian response planning; including people still in active conflict regions, IDPs, refugees, and the host population which houses IDPs

Habtu (1999) [90]

Ethiopia

Insulin treated diabetic patients from the Diabetic Clinic at the Mekelle Hospital in rural Tigray, Northern Ethiopia- the center of the severe Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s

Cross-sectional

Diabetes

Six month period in 1997

100 patients

The correct prescribed dose of insulin was only being administered in 50% of DM patients in rural Tigray, Ethiopia and the correct syringe by only 12% of patients. Insulin treatment had been interrupted in 48% of cases due to lack of supply. Low BMI(mean of 15.8), young age, and resistance to diabetic ketoacidosis(DKA) amongst study participants were consistent with previous descriptions of malnutrition related diabetes mellitus(MRDM)

Huerga (2009) [97]

Liberia

Patients of the medical and pediatric wards of Mamba Point Hospital, Monrovia, Liberia, one year after the end of the Liberian civil war

Cross-sectional

Multiple NCDs including CVD (stroke, CHF, and HTN)

January 2005—July 2005

1,034 adult patients

1,509 children

Of 1034 adult hospitalized patients in post-war Liberia, 529 (51%) were diagnosed with a noninfectious disease. Among the 241 deaths recorded, the cause was non-infectious disease in 134 (56%) patients. The fatality rate for infectious diseases (19.7%; 92 deaths/465 cases) was lower (P = 0.04) than for non-infectious diseases (25.3%; 134 deaths/529 cases). Cardiovascular diseases caused half of deaths due to non-infectious diseases: 25% stroke, 18% heart failure and 10% severe hypertension. No cases of ischemic heart disease were identified

Among hospitalized children, 229 (15%) were diagnosed with a noninfectious disease. NCDs represented 34% of all deaths. The fatality rate for infectious diseases (18.6%; 197 deaths/1189 cases) was lower (P < 0.01) than for non-infectious diseases (28.8%; 66 deaths/229 cases)

Hult (2010) [42]

Nigeria

40 year old Nigerians with fetal exposure to famine in Biafra, Nigeria during the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970)

Retrospective cohort

Diabetes and HTN

June 2009–July 2009

1,339 study participants

Fetal and infant undernutrition was associated with significantly increased risk of hypertension(adjusted OR 2.87; 95% CI 1.90–4.34), and impaired glucose tolerance (OR 1.65; 95% CI 1.02–2.69) in 40 year old Nigerians. However, early childhood exposure was not associated with increased risk