Diabetes "affects 70% of residents in the UAE:"

WHO official calls for stronger policies to bring down rate of affliction

Stronger goverment and community commitment are key to preventing complication of diabetes, beleived to afflict as much as 70 per cent of the UAE population, according to a leading regional authority on diabetes.
Dr. Osama Al Khatib, regional adviser for non-communicable diseases at the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office at the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the high disease without intervention from polimakers.

Primary healthcare
He said more focus should go into developing a strong primary healthcare syste. Which encounters diseases before or just after they develop, instead of hospitals, which receive patients at the end-stage of the disease. "Eighty to 90 per cent of disease prevention can be done at the primary healthcare level", he said. Community awareness and screening programmers were also vital to detect undiagnosed cases, he said.

The UAE has the second highest rate of diabetes in the world, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Other Gulf states also figure high in the diabetes scale, with Saudi Arabia third, Bahrain fourth, Kuwait fifth and Oman sixth.

Courtsey Gulf News April 19 - 2007