Professor M Zaman Shaikh, Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Dow University of Health Sciences, has warned that the diabetes epidemic in Pakistan was getting out of control. Sharing details of his ongoing research, on Friday, he said the world health day being celebrated on Saturday with the theme "Promote Health Lifestyle," was a grim reminder towards sedentary lifestyle of the Pakistanis making them vulnerable to different non-communicable diseases.
"Diabetes tops the list with 10 per cent of people suffering from the condition and another 10 per cent reporting with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)," he said. Professor M Zaman Shaikh said approximately 95 per cent of all diabetic patients are suffering Type 2 diabetes mellitus caused due to unhealthy life style. "Rampant prevalence of associated risk factors in our society makes its little surprising that diabetes is registered in people of all socio economic groups," said the senior diabetologist.
Identifying "Obesity" as the most common risk factors among the people with diabetes or at high risk to be inflicted with it, he said recent figures based on body mass index (BMI) show that 37 per cent of men with diabetes and 79 per cent of women diabetics were obese.
According to the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), 79 per cent of men with diabetes and 96 per cent of women had central obesity, he mentioned. The situation becomes critical as institutions specializing in diabetes care are limited in number and are concentrated in the big cities.
"There are no support personnel and very few diabetes specialised nurses and dietitians," he said. The diabetologist also mentioned that family physicians have little time for counselling. All these factors have been compounded by cultural practices in the country that demand extraordinary measures to control the situation, he said. Dr Shaikh also reminded that since public medical services and insurance are lacking therefore diagnosis of diabetes in a low or middle-income country often drag entire families into poverty.
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