On the occasion of World Diabetes Day (Nov 14) the Nutrition Center in Ho Chi Minh City announced on Thursday that the numbers of diabetic patients were increasing in Vietnam at an average 7 percent a year.
Nguyen Van Tien, chief of the Steering Committee for Diabetes Prevention, said that the disease has now become chronic and more and more people are beginning to contract the disease in Vietnam, especially in big cities. In 1990, the average rate of diabetics in big cities was 2.5 percent, in 2001 it was 4 percent but now it has escalated to 7 percent.
Latest statistics show the growth rate of 5 percent in the country and 7 per cent in Ho Chi Minh City. Medical workers fret that more than 65 percent of sick people don’t even know that they have contracted the disease.
WHO estimates that more than 346 million people worldwide have diabetes. This figure is likely to double by 2030 if the situation is not tackled. Almost 80 percent of diabetes deaths occur in low and middle-income groups worldwide.
According to experts, diabetes cannot be cured but 80 percent of type 2 diabetes cases can live with the disease by maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic lower limb amputations in the world.
Diabetes on the rise in Vietnam
The Nutrition Center in Ho Chi Minh City announced that the numbers of diabetic patients were increasing in Vietnam at an average 7 percent a year.
Source: SGGP
