Fall in diabetes rates augurs well for UAE

Prevalence of the condition has gone down to 11.8% of the population from more than 19% in 2010

By early next month the UAE will be justifiably proud of having achieved a big health objective: Reducing the prevalence of diabetes in its population. The National Health Survey findings, launched in October 2017 on the theme ‘My Health is a Priority’, conducted in cooperation with the government entities in the country and approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO), offered plenty of cheer last week. According to the preliminary findings, the prevalence of diabetes in the UAE has fallen to 11.8 per cent of the population from more than 19 per cent in 2010. This is a big reduction in numbers, whose significance cannot be overstated. In fact, this achievement will have a far-reaching positive impact in enabling the UAE to meet its health targets for Vision 2020.

Bringing down the rising statistics for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) is among the biggest challenges a country faces. NCDs are the kinds of diseases that are nearly always avoidable, but many people do not do enough to keep them at bay, thanks to the endemic hazards of modern life — sedentary lifestyles, junk food and round-the-clock stress, to name some. The result is galloping rates of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and hypertension among the population.

The problem with diabetes, which finds an enormous trigger in an imbalanced lifestyle, is that not only does it reduce mortality and diminish the quality of life, it is also an expensive affliction for both the individual and the family as well as the state. Study after study has pointed out that among all the lifestyle diseases, diabetes creates the maximum costs for the health-care system.

According to the International Federation of Diabetes, the average expenditure on diabetics in the UAE is estimated at Dh9.8 billion. A majority share of this burden is the direct medical cost and the remaining cost is a result of lost productivity or reduced efficiency. Given the enormity of consequences that diabetes creates, at the micro and macro levels, the findings of the National Health Survey are a robust validation of the UAE’s consistent efforts to combat the impact of this NCD.

This success story has, at its core, a triumphal reality that is driving the change — the empowering shift brought about by individuals with diabetes in their lives. It’s the great lifestyle shift through exercise, balanced diet, stress management and a positive outlook. This is where the change begins.

And the UAE is focusing on making this change become a nonstop, wide-ranging, cumulative process through a slew of strategies — the formulation of a national plan to combat NCDs, comprehensive and integrated health care in innovative and sustainable ways, a road map for disease prevention and, above all, the promotion of healthy lifestyles.