1.3 million Vietnamese aged around 30 have diabetes

Some 1.3 million Vietnamese people aged around 30 have already suffered from diabetes, a local health official told reporters ahead an international diabetes meeting slated for Tuesday.

It is difficult to give the exact number of diabetes patients at different ages as the disease does not exhibit clear symptoms at early stages, but the total figure in Vietnam with a population of 83.1 million is estimated at 2-2.5 million, said Ta Van Binh, director of the country's Central Endocrinology Hospital in Hanoi capital.

The infection rates are currently very high in major urban areas, such as over 4.3 percent in southern Ho Chi Minh City, and 3.7 percent in Hanoi, much higher than the rates one decade ago.

To reduce the rates, Vietnam will focus on raising public awareness about the danger of diabetes and ways of preventing it such as using appropriate diet, increasing physical activities and reducing weight consequently, and improving diabetes diagnosis and treatment systems nationwide, Binh said, noting that Vietnam currently has only one hospital, five centers and five hospital faculties specializing in endocrinology.

He said Vietnam will host the World Diabetes Fund (WDF)'s diabetes summit from Feb. 21-24, which is to bring to attention the health and socioeconomic burden posed by the rising prevalence of diabetes and its complications in the Western Pacific region and discuss steps to mitigate the burden.

The WDF was launched in 2002 with the primary objective to prevent and improve the care of people with diabetes in the poorest countries through funding of sustainable projects within the fields of awareness and advocacy, building healthcare capacity, and enhancement of detection, treatment and monitoring.

Diabetes patients are prone to both short-term and long-term complications, including diabetic eye disease, kidney damage, nerve damage, peripheral vascular disease, and foot ulceration, Binh said.

It has been estimated that at least 30 million people in the Western Pacific region have diabetes. It is expected by conservative estimates that this figure will double by 2025, according to the World Health Organization.

The increase in diabetes results from continuing changes in lifestyle such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and obesity, which are associated with urbanization, mechanization and industrialization, the organization said.

Source: Xinhua