The
prevalence of diabetes in Saudi Arabia, which has become a major case for the
Ministry of Health which has announced on its website the results of a survey
in last March 9 conducted in collaboration with the Health Metrics and
evaluation Institute at Washington University, revealed that the prevalence
rate of diabetes among Saudis is estimated 13.4 %.
The
study showed that the number of diabetic males is estimated 1.1 million people,
of whom 546 thousands are taking treatment for diabetes, and 275 thousand do
not control the disease.
The
number of diabetic women males is estimated 775 thousands, of whom 356 thousand
of them control the disease through treatment, compared to 196 thousand no
control over it.
The
Saudi government is leading awareness and preventive continuous campaigns
especially in the past three years, and launched many of the programs; the most
recent of them was the national program to raise awareness about diabetes,
"Diabetes Sahsahlh" which means be aware to the risk of diabetes.
The
programs aim to promote health awareness among patients with diabetes and
familiarize them with the guidance and health practices that help to control
the sugar level and follow the health patterns, in addition to providing
patients enrolled in the Ministry of Health with sugar measurement devices and
its accessories from the tapes and injection through the centers and units of
diabetes and primary health care centers scattered in all regions of the
Kingdom.
Despite
these governmental measures to curb the diabetes, the health observers expect
an increase with diabetes in Saudi Arabia in the coming years, one of them is
Suleiman AlSubhi Endocrinologist Consultant at one of the Ministry of Health
hospitals.
AlSobhi
says, "The main reason for the high percentage of diabetics in the
kingdom, is the changing lifestyle and rising obesity rates among Saudis, and
the lack of movement."
He
added that the results of the last national survey of health information
estimated the total obese among Saudis is 28.7%, and women are more obese than
men. He stated the growing number of diabetics is a dangerous sign, and gives
more social and medical concern, and represents a threat to the Saudi national
security health, he said.
Endocrinologist
Consultant referred to report of the British magazine The Economist published
in the last May, indicating that Saudi Arabia occupies the first place in the
International Classification of patients with diabetes, is also expected to
rise to more than five million people over the next four years.
And
The National Center for Diabetes revealed at his Twitter about the existence of
one or two cases of amputation daily in the major hospitals in the Kingdom,
ranging from amputation of small part (finger tip) to full amputation of the
foot or leg of the patient..
The
economic cost to treat the complications of diabetes, is one of the things that
much debated over in the past periods, attempts
of # Jazeera Net failed to get official figures from the Ministry of
Health, in spite of repeated requests..
Economic
researcher at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Salman al-Qahtani referred
to that spending on care for diabetics is exceeding 11% of the total public
health expenditure ratio