The number of diabetics is expected to reach 60 million in Pakistan by 2045 if immediate preventive measures, including an increase in taxes on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) and the implementation of the national action plan regarding non-communicable diseases (NCDs), are not taken by the authorities, experts warned on Monday.
“Diabetes is more than an epidemic in Pakistan where 33 million people are living with disease and around 10 million children are obese and overweight. If immediate measures are not taken to prevent diabetes, the number of diabetics would reach 60 million by 2045,” said Prof Abdul Basit, secretary general of the Diabetes Association of Pakistan (DAP), at a news conference in Karachi.
He inaugurated the first ‘Center of Excellence in Diabetes Care’ at Ehad Medical Center in Karimabad, where all diagnostic, screening and treatment facilities, including the screening of eyes, kidneys and foot care, have been provided under one roof, while health educators, nutritionists and counselors would also be available to guide patients to keep their diseases under control.
Prof Basit, who is also the representative of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in Pakistan, said that on recommendations from the IDF as well as from the Diabetes Association of Pakistan (DAP), the ministry of health had recommended an increase in taxes on sugar sweetened beverages, but the new taxes could not be levied in the budget. He hoped taxes on these beverages were likely to be increased in the next budget.
“In addition to increasing taxes on SSBs and fast food as well as on processed food, there is a need to close down all schools which are functioning without playgrounds in the country,” he said, adding that there was also a need to include lessons on prevention from diabetes in the national curriculum.
The eminent dialectologist stressed that all the ministries, including health, education and finance, needed to join hands, while the media should be taken on board to launch a comprehensive strategy to curtail the incidence of diabetes in the country.
To a query, Prof Basit said the national action plan on NCDs should be implemented in letter and spirit, while special attention should be paid to preventing children from getting obese and overweight. He added that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan and the Ministry of Health should also take measures to ensure provision of essential medicines to diabetics.
The chief executive officer (CEO) Ehad medical centers in Karachi, Dr Babar Saeed Khan, said they were coming up with a one-window solution to diabetes care in Pakistan. He added that they were going to establish four centers of excellence in diabetes care where all screening, treatment and counseling as well as diagnostic and pharmacy services would be provided under one roof.
“On the pattern of health facilities in the developed world, all the screening facilities, including examination of eyes, kidneys and foot, will be available at these Ehad medical centers in Karachi, the first of which will commence functioning in the Karimabad area of the city.”
Dr Khan said more such centers of excellence in diabetes care would be established in Model Colony, North Karachi and Mehmoodabad areas, and at least once a week, free diabetes consultation would be provided to patients at those centers.
Calling for launching a comprehensive prevention campaign, diabetologist Dr Mustafa Javed said awareness was the key to preventing diabetes, as, according to a study, people who slept late at night had 44 percent more chances of developing diabetes as compared to those who slept early.
