DOHA: Dr Adel Abdulaziz Al Sayed, Vice President of the International Diabetes Federation and Advisor to the World Health Organization, praised the great interest that Qatar pays to the health and education sectors, which in turn was reflected in the level of advanced services and care provided to citizens and residents in these areas.
Dr Al Sayed noted on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the 24th edition of the Al Bawasil International Camp for children diagnosed with diabetes, the great support provided by Qatar to people with diabetes, stressing that this support, attention and care are valuable and may not even be available in many other rich and developed countries.
He appreciated the vital role played by the Qatar Diabetes Society, a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development in terms of awareness, education about diabetes, its risk and reduction in the community, and living with it for those who suffer from it. He noted the benefits achieved by the annual camps organized by the association due to the accumulated experience in this field, especially for people with type 1 diabetes, especially in terms of living with this disease as one of the most important modes of treatment, in addition to training children to acquire many related skills and other cultural and social activities.
Diabetes is a costly disease, pushing families, individuals, and communities to the brink of poverty.
Expressing his happiness that Qatar is providing treatment and support and taking all necessary measures to reduce the infection and prevent its complications and live with it for those who are infected, this is an excellent model of health care, that benefits everyone, in addition to communication and exchange of experiences from organizing such camps and participations.
He stressed that all these efforts and country plans related to the fight against diabetes are in line with the policies, plans, and programmes of the International Diabetes Federation in this regard.
He noted that, since 2013, the International Diabetes Federation has recognized this camp as part of its activities, and has registered it in its records, and that he was happy about it.
In response to a question about the number of people with diabetes around the world, Dr Al Sayed revealed that this number is approaching 550 million people and that it may rise by 2045 to 850 million cases, an increase of about 60 percent.
He pointed out that the Arab region's share of this number is about 80 million cases, and noted that the current spending on diabetes in the world is about a trillion dollars.