A Systematic Review on the Prevalence and Management of Diabetes and Hyper-tension in Zanzibar

Introduction : In Zanzibar, the increasing prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) poses significant challenges to the healthcare system. This review aims to assess the epidemiology, risk factors, and existing preventive and management strategies for diabetes and hypertension in Zanzibar.

Methods: This review was conducted in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies on diabetes and hypertension in Zanzibar published from January 2020 to January 2025 were searched from PubMed, Google Scholar, and ResearchGates databases. All studies outside Zanzibar or lacking epidemiological data were excluded.

Results: A total of 20 articles’ legible for review was evaluated, 14 of them were later disqualified as were published beyond 2020. The systematic review was conducted on 5 studies that met study criteria. Among them, 2 studies were mainly focus on prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and the remaining 3 were focused on monitoring and management. Both studies were observational. Population based studies reported a rising trend in diabetes by 4.4% and hypertension by 33.5% while in hospital based study reported diabetes by 16.6% and hypertension by 75.0% among adults. Old age, education, obesity, and raised fasting blood glucose were significantly independently associated with hypertension. Reported high case-fatality rate 59.0% (CI 55.2-62.8) and socioeconomic health disparities in the patients diagnosed with acute stroke. Studies reported suboptimal diabetes and hypertension management, scarcity of staff with specialised knowledge in managing diabetic patients and multifaceted challenges facing them.

Conclusion Diabetes and hypertension are growing public health concerns in Zanzibar. Addressing these issues requires a multi-sectoral approach, including better healthcare infrastructure, public education, and policy-driven interventions. This review provides informative massage in regards to the status of diabetes and hypertension in Zanzibar Island. It provides significant scientific evidence on burden of diabetes and hypertension, their risk factors and valuable information in the management, monitoring and control strategies to the policy makers and care providers.