Home
Articles
Case Studies
White Papers
Events
Research Papers
Media Partnership
Multimedia
Dubai Over one million UAE residents suffer from diabetes despite better health services and better awareness, a senior doctor told a diabetes congress here yesterday, saying the Gulf States are tackling the situation with urgency.
Top specialists gathered to tackle the growing incidence of diabetes in the Gulf states which is affecting productivity and also draining national budgets in providing treatment and care to millions of patients.
“It is a serious issue not only for the UAE, but also the whole world,” said Dr Salem Al Darmaki, the newly appointed acting director general of the Ministry of Health, who opened the two-day Congress.
He said the UAE has given the disease utmost importance not only in its treatment but also to prevent it by giving support to health care providers in the country. The UAE alone has more than one million diabetics and pre-diabetics. The second group of people are those whose blood sugar level is not as high, but who could turn diabetic in a couple of years.
Dr Abdul Razzaq Al Madani, chairman of the Emirates Diabetes Association, told delegates the situation is grim and is threatening the whole region. He said the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — will remain in the list of top 10 countries whose population is highly diabetic, even two decades from now.
The doctor said it was not only genetic predisposition, but also lack of exercise, sedentary jobs, obesity and marriages between cousins which were to blame.
“There is still not a good prevention plan in place,” he warned. Dr Al Madani showed a slide of a fast-food restaurant near the Ministry of Health advertising ‘Eat all you can for Dh25.’ “That’s just $7,” he said, noting that cheap junk food is encouraging people to ingest more calories. “You don’t even have to go to the restaurant, it is delivered to your home,” he said.
Dr Al Madani said while various types of insulin are available in the UAE and are affordable, there was an urgent need to raise awareness about the debilitating disease.
The Gulf states are spending nearly 10 per cent of their national budgets in tackling this disease, he said.
Recent Comments