| 19 Feb 2010 |
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Jordan: Diabetes prevalence in Jordan at 10.1% - report
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AMMAN - Jordan had the ninth-highest prevalence of diabetes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region last year, according to an international report.
According to the recently released International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2010 report, the prevalence of diabetes in the Kingdom stood at 10.1 per cent last year, with 1,078 deaths related to complications caused by the disease recorded in the 20-79 age bracket.
Diabetes is an illness which occurs as a result of problems with the production and supply of insulin in the body.
Meanwhile, some 259,000 people suffer from impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in Jordan, the report revealed.
Around three million Jordanians are expected to be affected by diabetes in 2050, unless serious steps are taken, National Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics Director General Kamel Ajlouni said earlier this week.
During a lecture on diabetes and obesity, he said around 30 per cent of people over the age of 25 have diabetes, while 80 per cent are overweight.
In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, Ajlouni said diabetes prevalence in the Kingdom is expected to reach 30 per cent in 2050 due to unhealthy lifestyles and food, noting that the lack of exercise and eating unhealthy food leads to obesity, which is a main cause of diabetes.
He also revealed that 20 people pass away daily due to diabetes-related complications, such as heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease amputations. Other complications include cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage.
According to the IDF report, six countries in the MENA region rank among the top 10 in the world in terms of the prevalence of diabetes and IGT: Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Regionally, the UAE had the highest prevalence of any Arab country, with a rate of 18.7 per cent, followed by Saudi Arabia (16.8 per cent), Qatar and Bahrain (15.4 per cent each).
It listed major socio-economic changes, such as rapid urbanisation, changes in diet, a drop in physical activity and an increased life expectancy as major contributors to the rise in diabetes.
The figures indicated that 26.6 million people in the region currently suffer from the disease, a number that is expected to reach 51.7 million in 2030.
According to the report, diabetes is expected to lead to 290,000 deaths across the MENA region this year, 11.5 per cent of all deaths in the 20-79 age bracket. More women than men are expected to die from diabetes-related complications in 2010, it added.
Meanwhile, the report noted that the total healthcare expenditure for diabetes is expected to reach $5.6 billion for the entire region, some 1.5 per cent of regional spending. Persons with diabetes between the ages of 50 and 59 are expected to incur the highest costs, it added.
Globally, some 285 million people worldwide will be diagnosed with diabetes in 2010, the report indicated.
© Jordan Times 2010
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