Experts said that the numbers of diabetes patients in Pakistan are over 10 million while 8.5 million people are not even aware that they are suffering from diabetes. This is the reason that Pakistan is among top 10 countries where diabetes is increasing at a rapid pace however it is a non-communicable disease. They spoke at the Awareness Seminar on World Diabetes Day organized by National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (NIDE).

Pro Vice chancellor, Prof Zarnaz Wahid while speaking at the seminar said it is possible that 50 percent of the patients can be treated for Type 2 Diabetes through prevention; as prevention is better than cure. She added that in the coming year, World Diabetes Day would be themed as "Family and Diabetes" which indicates that if even one person of the family suffers from diabetes, the whole family gets affected with him. She further said that we should adopt a healthy life style in order to avoid diabetes, because 60 percent of the treatment of this disease can be done by controlling our diet habits. Obesity is the root cause of diabetes which influences the quality of life. Diabetes has also been common in children too. The symptoms to which are frequent urination and ultimate weight loss.

Director NIDE, Prof Akhtar Ali Baloch said that it has been 13 years now when this institute was established. The next step was the setting up of an insulin bank and today, it is a national institute where we are providing consultation and treatments of diabetes while the provision of insulin and medications is free of cost to the needy people. However, other expensive treatments and facilities are provided at a very economical rate. Today, we are also inaugurating an Obesity Control Clinic on World Diabetes Day 2019 as the rate of obesity is accelerating very fast which is the root cause of diabetes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019