Number of diabetics rising

3.9 million in malaysia have the disease, says Health dg

KUALA LUMPUR: The prevalence of diabetes is still showing an alarmingly upward trend every year, despite globally agreed targets to control the risk of diabetes by 2025.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said an estimated 537 million adults aged 20 to 79 are currently suffering from diabetes globally.

“The International Diabetes Federation expects this number to reach a total of 643 million people by the year 2030 and a total of 783 million patients by the year 2045,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said about 3.9 million (18.3%) adults aged 18 and above had diabetes in the country, and almost half of diabetics were unaware of their disease status.

According to him, detecting diabetes and getting early treatment are important in managing the disease to help prevent complications and premature death because the longer a person has untreated diabetes, the higher the risk of complications and premature death.

He said a report titled The Direct Healthcare Cost of Noncommunicable Diseases in Malaysia, which was released recently, estimated that Rm4.38bil (45.38% of the total cost) was spent on diabetes treatment since 2017.

“The burden of this cost is expected to increase if appropriate actions are not taken to prevent and control the disease,” Dr Noor Hisham said, according to Bernama.

Meanwhile, he said the National Health Screening Initiative (NHSI) had screened a total of 355,887 people aged 40 years and older at Health Ministry (MOH) facilities, with 195,215 (54.85%) confirmed to have non-communicable diseases (NCD) before the screening.

Some 137,380 (38.6%) individuals were Ncd-free, but had NCD risk factors such as overweight or obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, as well as blood sugar and cholesterol levels that exceed the normal range. Another 23,293 (6.55%) are healthy, without any NCD risk factors.

In addition, a total of 210,414 individuals under the age of 40 were screened during the same period, and it was found that 84,395 (40.11%) were confirmed to have NCDS before screening; 97,158 (46.14%) had NCD risk factors, and 28,931 (13.75%) individuals are healthy.

The MOH launched the national level World Diabetes Day celebration with the theme “Access to Diabetes Care – Education to Protect Tomorrow” to raise awareness in the community about the importance of access to diabetes care.

The MOH calls on the public to take this opportunity to check their body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels at any nearby health facility.