CHANDIGARH – Every seventh Punjabi is a diabetic and around half of the state’s population is at risk of getting diabetes. Clearly, the state is not in the pink of health when it comes to diabetes.
According to a recent report prepared by four medical colleges of the state in collaboration with the PGI, Chandigarh, it was found that diabetes prevalence was much higher in the state as compared with the country at large. The institutions involved in the survey included three government medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala, Faridkot and the CMC, Ludhiana. The survey was conducted on a sample size of more than 5,000. It was one of the biggest studies ever conducted on non-communicable diseases in the state.
It was found that diabetes prevalence in Punjab stood at 14 per cent, while the national figure rate was 9 per cent. Around 23.2 per cent of the surveyed persons accepted that they had a family history of diabetes.
“More than 50 per cent of the state’s population is suffering from abdominal obesity, overweight, high cholesterol etc. They run the risk of getting diabetes. It is alarming,” said Dr JS Thakur, professor, community medicine at the PGI. The number could spiral over the next 10 years, if preventive steps were not initiated, Dr Thakur said.
It was found that 74.4 per cent diabetics were taking oral hypoglycaemic, while 10.3 per cent were taking insulin. Around 6 per cent diabetics had visited a traditional healer and 7.4 per cent were taking herbal or traditional treatment. According to the WHO, the epidemic has a major health and socio-economic impact especially in developing countries. In 2012 alone, diabetes claimed 15 lakh lives globally. As the world observes World Health Day tomorrow, the WHO has called for action against diabetes, focusing on its prevention and treatment.
