MOH focuses on prediabetes, issues guidelines to mitigate risk factors

To mark World Diabetes Day, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has turned the attention on prediabetes, with an announcement on the guidelines to mitigate the risk factors.

World Diabetes Day on November 14 provides an opportunity to raise awareness on diabetes as a global public health issue and what needs to be done, collectively and individually, for better prevention, diagnosis and management of the condition.

According to MOH, prediabetes is a condition that precedes the development of diabetes, where, the level of blood glucose is higher than normal but not meeting the diagnostic levels of diabetes.

‘Risk factors for developing it include family history of diabetes and other chronic diseases, overweight and obesity, gestational diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), limited mobility and lack of exercise and smoking. Early diagnosis and management help restore the normal blood glucose level and prevent the development of type 2 diabetes,” MOH stated.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this year’s theme, ‘access to diabetes education’, underpins the larger multi-year theme of ‘access to care’.

WHO’S World Diabetes Day activities covered issues ranging from championing the priorities of people living with diabetes in advocacy to the Global Diabetes Compact, which drives efforts globally to reduce the risk of diabetes and ensure access to treatment and care.

World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nations Resolution 61/225.

It is marked every year on November 14, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

World Diabetes Day is a global occasion on which people with diabetes, health professionals, diabetes advocates, media, the general public, and government organisations unite to raise awareness of diabetes.