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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
QATAR spends around QR1.8 billion on treating diabetes and its complications annually, Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan al Kuwari said on Monday.
She was speaking at the opening of a two-day Qatar Diabetes Leadership Forum, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani and was attended by a number of ministers and top dignitaries.
Dr Kuwari said that, given the rate of increase in costs of diabetes treatment, it is likely to shoot up to QR4.9 billion annually by 2035 and QR8.4 billion by 2055.
"Our projection shows that the number of people suffering from diabetes is likely to double in the next 40 years, meaning that this terrible disease would impact even more children, families and communities," she added.
The minister said that an estimated 50 percent of dialysis provided in Qatar is due to diabetes and close to 70 percent of stroke patients has diabetes or pre-diabetes.
According to Kuwari, one in six Qatari adult population (17 percent) suffers from diabetes today. She, however, added that the advances being made in medical technology are helping most diabetics to keep the disease under control and learn to live with it.
Speaking on the occasion, QDA Executive Director Dr Abdulla al Hamaq called for collective effort to fight the disease and said: Diabetes treatment costs Qatar more than $2820 per patient annually. So, there is a need for both the government and people to come together to fight the disease."
MoPH Manager of Health Promotion and Non Communicable Diseases Sheikha Dr Al Anoud bint Mohamed al Thani remarked:"By assembling the world's greatest experts in diabetes, healthcare leaders, policy makers, private companies and NGOs to share ideas and best practices, we can devise ways to better tackle the disease."
HMC Chairman of Internal Medicine and Co-Chair of the National Diabetes Committee Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra stressed the importance of preventive measures and added,"By spending on prevention and treatment, we reduce the cost that we may incur due to complications."
President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Dr Shaukat Sadikot said that half of the people with diabetes do not even know that they have the disease and called for joint effort to tackle the disease.
WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ala Alwan said that in this region diabetes cases have more than doubled in 30 years, adding,"In Qatar non-communicable diseases are currently responsible for more than two-thirds of the deaths."
The forum which concludes on Tuesday is held in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and 'Action on Diabetes' (AOD), a major public-private partnership between Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC), Qatar Diabetes Association, Novo Nordisk.
The sponsors include Maersk Oil Qatar, Qatar Metabolic Institute (QMI), World Diabetes Foundation, International Diabetes Federation, and Qatar Airways.
