1/21/2011
6:17pm
Increase of diabetes strains Middle East health agencies
In North Africa and the Middle east the rate of diabetes has rapidly risen resulting in a financial burden to the regions health care cost. With the continuing rising trends and the high expenses families will began to move below the poverty line. Within the countries regions 10 have the highest occurrence of diabetes globally; with the United Arab Emirates having the second highest rate in the world. It’s estimated that 26.6 million adults in the Middle East and North Africa presently have diabetes. This accounts for 9.3 percent of adults in the world who have the disease. Diabetes accounts for 14% of the regions over-all health care expenditure. By the year 2030 the numbers are projected to have doubled. Diabetes is the cause for lower limb amputations in 5 percent of Jordanians and the result of signs of early stage kidney disease in Saudi Arabia; it also raises the risk for coronary heart disease. The Middle East and North Africa have some of the highest obesity rates in the world. Lifestyle choices and the frequently low cost of fast food are major factors that contribute to the rapid increase of diabetes. The lack of knowledge concerning diabetes and its seriousness also adds to the increasing rates among the regions. Health ministries are now helping by offering training for doctors and nurses; they are also offering people the availability of more screening opportunities. Seeing that the rates of obesity and diabetes are rising and are continuing to affect more people globally it seems that it’s becoming more of a global disease that’s hitting one country at a time. The ease of more convenient technology and cheaper unhealthier food is something that has also shown to be another major contributor to obesity and its health consequences. The more people are given easier choices in their lifestyle the easier it is for people to become overweight and become more vulnerable to the disease. With people not knowing the major health consequences that result from diabetes it gives the impression that the rates may continue to rise.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/world/middleeast/13iht-M13CDIABET.html
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