Expert urges need for eye screening in diabetes fight

Dubai: The UAE, ranked number two in the list of countries with diabetes patients, needs to include eye screening to prevent and control the disease, says an expert.

Diabetes-related blindness, or diabetic retinopathy, is one the complications of the metabolic disease.

About 20 per cent of the UAE general population has diabetes, mostly Type II diabetes, second only to Nauru, according to the International Diabetes Federation, although the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the figure to be higher.

Dr David Krasnow, managing director of International Diabetes Eye-D, said his experience while running non-profit eye programmes in 14 countries has taught him that many did not know they had diabetes.

"In Mexico, 20 per cent of the patients needed referral to [endocrinologists and diabetologists] and 40 per cent had sight-threatening problems," he told Gulf News after her presentation at Vision-X Conference, which ended yesterday.

"I would imagine that the UAE would have similar numbers. Maybe one in four or five would need some kind of referral," he said.

A comprehensive screening programme should not just focus on randomly testing blood sugar levels but must satisfy a few requirements, such as going into communities instead of waiting for communities to come for screening.

"Public health screenings need to use mobile clinics to reach more people. We can also do programme with NGOs and screen people at malls continuously for a long time, [like a year]," he said.

Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, member of the National Diabetes Committee, told Gulf News the Ministry of Health was working on a system to follow-up diabetes patients at each primary healthcare centre.