| Kippreport.com

Diabetes accounts for 31.6pc of UAE deaths

September 14, 2009 12:01 by kippreport

Diabetes-related heart problems accounted for 31.6 percent of deaths in the UAE, making diabetes the nation’s biggest killer in 2008, according to the Ministry of Health.

With one in five UAE residents suffering from diabetes, the UAE has the world’s second largest percentage of diabetes cases. The disease costs the nation between $100 million to $200 million to treat annually.

“The World Health Organization projects that diabetes deaths will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years, without urgent action” said Fatheya Alawadi, Congress Chair for the Emirates Diabetes Congress (EDC 2009), an international medical forum scheduled to be held in Dubai from November 7-8.

The ministry claims that lack of awareness, sedentary lifestyles, poor eating habits, high rate of obesity and the prohibitive cost of treatment are contributing to the rising number of diabetes cases in the UAE.

Tags: death, diabetes, Emirates Diabetes Congress, Health, Ministry of Health, UAE