DAMMAM: The Saudi Diabetes and Endocrine Association (SDEA) will launch next year a mobile clinic to examine patients in the Eastern Province. Abdul Aziz Al-Turki, SDEA's chairman, said diabetes and its complications is a threat to the health of people worldwide especially Arab countries. This includes Saudi Arabia that has one of the highest number of diabetes sufferers in the world. He added that this year the number of sufferers worldwide will pass the 285 million mark. There will be a steady increase until 2030. In 2005 about 1.1 million people died from diabetes. About half of them were under 70 years of age and 55 percent were women. Al-Turki said these numbers are worrying. “Health education can protect against the disease or delay it. Individuals are advised to engage in healthy lifestyles based on eating healthy food, practicing sports and avoiding smoking,” he said. Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Mulhem, chairman of the SDEA Scientific Committee and director of the association's recently-launched diabetes awareness campaign, said Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have some of the highest rates of diabetes, noting that the campaign will continue for five years. The campaign will also be involved in studying the impact of diabetes and obesity, prevention, and the importance of keeping levels of blood sugar, blood pressure and fat within normal rates. Dr. Basem Futa, the association's chairman of its Health Education Committee, said maintaining a healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of getting diabetes by 70 to 90 percent. Futa warned about the increasing obesity in children, saying that recent statistics showed there are three million obese children in the Kingdom. Futa expects a significant increase in the number of diabetic patients in the Kingdom unless authorities deal with the problem during the coming five to 10 years. He cited the fact that 25 years ago the rate of diabetes in the Kingdom was about eight percent, which has increased to more than 28 percent over the last 20 years.
