Dubai: Abu Dhabi spends Dh1 billion in healthcare every year to treat diabetics who are young and who are very likely to suffer from heart disease in the near future, a study shows.
The survey showed that 18 percent of the Abu Dhabi Emirati population suffer from Type2 diabetes and that 24 percent are "losing control of their sugar level" and will soon become diabetic, a senior official from Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD) said Wednesday.
Complications
Dr Oliver Harrison, director of public policy at HAAD said the healthcare costs go three and five times higher if the patient suffers from complications. "It is a huge burden on the government and the society, (as people lose their jobs because of the debilitating disease)," he said.
An emirate-wide screening of 210,000 people showed that a "cardiac time bomb is ticking", said the director. He said the screening showed that 98 percent of the adults also have risk factors for cardio vascular diseases.
The results of the screening were released today (Wednesday) on the sidelines of the Dubai Diabetes Congress which has attracted 15,000 experts from across the globe.
"This is not something others have brought here," said the doctor of the diabetes epidemic. But he noted that early intervention will save 3000 Emirati lives and also that for a majority the disease is preventable.
Better foods
Dr Harrison said HAAD is talking with Pepsico and Nestle to see how better foods can be made available to the people. He said a food regulator is in place and the target is to increase intake of fruits and vegetables and reduce the intake of saturated fats in the population.
He said that people should be responsible for their health but creating awareness (about the dangers of the disease) alone is not enough. "People usually are on auto-pilot and do not rational decisions on what to eat," he said, calling for other ways to influence people to eat healthy as pricing, labeling of foods or easier access to fruits and vegetables.
