Diabetes: a rising concern

PESHAWAR:  

Although Pakistan has not been included in the top 10 countries with people suffering from diabetes across the globe, it is likely to stand in the eighth position in 2040 given the rising number of people grappling with the disease.

According to the research carried out by Novo Nordisk, 86,000 children develop diabetes ever year whereas 45% of people coping with the disease experience emotional distress due to the disease. If not treated, diabetes can cause complications such as heart failure, blindness, kidney diseases and loss of limbs. Two out of three people with diabetes live in urban areas, the research revealed.

Diabetes is a chronic condition caused by the body’s inability to make enough or properly use insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas. Insulin acts like a key, unlocking cells so that glucose in the blood can enter and produce energy. Without insulin, blood glucose levels rises and can over the long term cause damage to organs and body tissue.

According to a research, five million people have died due to diabetes in 2015.

In view of the rising number of patients, steps are being taken prevent Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), a condition where a women without diabetes develop high blood sugar levels during pregnancy and ends up with an increased risk of developing Type-2 diabetes later in life. GDM is a public health issue contributing to the rising number of Type-2 Diabetes pandemic. At least 50% of women with GDM develop Type-2 Diabetes within five years of pregnancy and children born to mothers with GDM are eight times more likely to develop Type-2 Diabetes and obesity in their teens of early adulthood.

The company has been working with maternal health partners to improve the maternal and child health where over 28,000 women were screened for GDM, increasing awareness about diabetes in pregnancy.

It has also been carrying out activities [public-private partnership program] to improve delivery of care to 10,000 children with Type-1 diabetes in resource-poor settings in nine countries, including Bangladesh, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

“We must launch this programme in Pakistan too but that is only possible if done in collaboration with government,” President and Chief Executive Officer Novo Nordisk Lars Rebien Soerensen told The Express Tribune in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Copenhagen last week. Educating people specifically health personnel about diabetes is needed in the country. He said they are to work with the government since health professionals need to be educated and qualified to diagnose diabetes.

He informed, “Insulin is the most powerful medication but if you take too much, there is possibility of low blood sugar and you can go into a comma. But taking Insulin as the last option is a myth.”

At least three million people have been living with diabetes in K-P, the number is much higher as compared to those registered by the provincial government. Similarly, 6,500 people have been benefiting from Insulin for life, a K-P government initiative at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.