An international diabetes conference kicked off Wednesday in Hanoi, addressing one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century.

"Our ultimate aim is to encourage governments worldwide, policymakers, and funding bodies to prioritize diabetes care, allowing the implementation of much-needed sustainable and far- reaching solutions," Pierre Lefebvre, chairman of the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) said at the three-day conference, with the participation of nearly 100 delegates, mainly health experts, from various international organizations and countries.

The chairman said the conference, hosted by the WDF, the Vietnamese Health Ministry and the Western Pacific Declaration on Diabetes, centers on Asia, home to four of the world's five largest diabetic populations: India, China, Pakistan and Japan.

Developing countries cannot afford to deal with the rising burden of diabetes complications such as amputations, kidney damage and blindness, he said, noting that estimated three percent of diabetes patients in the countries are being treated, partly because most of them have to pay for medicines out of their own pockets, and health services are overburdened by high treatment costs.

At the conference, Paul Zimmet, director of Australia-based International Diabetes Institute, said "diabetes is bigger than bird flu," because diabetes is chronic, while bird flu is acute. There are now major public health issues arising from chronic diseases which need to be addressed with equal energy and focus, he said, noting that in many developing countries, public health advocacy has been mainly devoted to infectious diseases.

During the event, renowned health experts from organizations and countries, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Diabetes Federation, Denmark, China, India, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Mongolia, Vietnam, Bhutan and Nepal, are to highlight the increasing prevalence of diabetes and its complications in the developing world, and map out strategies to reduce the socioeconomic burden the disease poses.

According to the WHO, the number of people suffering from diabetes worldwide will surge to 333 million in 2025 from over 194 million in 2003, mainly due to a combination of population ageing, unhealthy diets, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. It has predicted that developing countries will bear the brunt of the epidemic in the 21st century.

Diabetes is an illness that occurs when the body lacks insulin, either because the pancreas does not produce any insulin or produces only a very small amount, or because the cells in the body are resistant towards the insulin produced in the body. The two conditions are generally referred to as type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

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.

Source: Xinhua