Diabetes bigger killer than Covid-19, say experts

Diabetes is a bigger disease than Covid-19, which is killing more people in low- and middle-income countries like Pakistan than the novel coronavirus, experts have claimed, warning that the number of people with diabetes could reach up to 100 million in Pakistan by 2045 if immediate steps were not taken by the authorities and people together.

“There are around 20 million people living with type 2 diabetes in Pakistan but alarmingly, there are around 20 million people more who are unaware that they have diabetes,” endocrinologist and President of Pakistan Endocrine Society (PES) Dr Ibrar Ahmed told the launching ceremony of 200 diabetes clinics throughout Pakistan on Wednesday.

Under the banner of ‘Discovering Diabetes Project’, a network of 200 clinics have been established by the PES in collaboration with a local pharmaceutical firm Pharmevo to track, screen, access and prevent diabetes, and create awareness about the disease.

Over 100 consultant diabetologists, general physicians and healthcare professionals from public and private health facilities in Karachi, who linked their clinics with the Discovering Diabetes Project, were present on the occasion.

The PES president maintained that diabetes was spreading at an alarming speed in Pakistan, which was ranked fourth in the world, and second among 21 countries of the Middle East and North African region for having the highest number of diabetic patients and warned that if immediate steps were not taken, Pakistan could have over 100 diabetics by the end of 2045.

“Recently, we held a screening camp in one of the cities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where we found 125 diabetics after screening 460 people, which is around 27 per cent,” he said.