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DOHA: The prevalence of diabetes is alarmingly high in Qatar and other GCC countries, and significantly, all the six GCC nations rank among the top 12 countries of the world which have the highest incidence of the disease.
With the World Diabetes Day falling on November 14, Qatar Diabetes Association has already launched its awareness campaigns.
According to the CIA World Fact Book, a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, the comparative prevalence estimate of diabetes mellitus in the adult population of Qatar is 15.4 percent and the country is ranked sixth among 223 countries and territories.
The United Arab Emirates, which is ranked second on the list, has the highest comparative incidence in the region at 18.7 percent. But the national prevalence of diabetes, which indicates the percentage of the county’s population that has the disease, is 12.2 percent.
Saudi Arabia is ranked third, with a comparative prevalence of 16.8 percent and national figure of 13.6 percent. Kuwait has a comparative prevalence of 14.6 percent and Oman, ranked 12th, has a prevalence of 13.4 percent.
The comparative prevalence of diabetes in Bahrain is the same as in Qatar; though the national prevalence is 14.4 percent.
In Qatar, the Fact Book says, 13.3 percent of the population has the disease. However, according to available statistics here, around 16 percent of Qatar’s population is diabetic.
Studies have revealed that the incidence of diabetes in Qatar has been rising since 1990 and this holds true for children also. According to previous reports, the number of cases of childhood diabetes in Qatar doubled in ten years. In 1997, the incidence of childhood diabetes in Qatar was 17.3 in every 100,000, and this had increased to 35 per 100,000 in 2007.
There is also a tremendous increase in diabetes in children below five. In 1997, 13.7 percent of these children were found to be diabetic, but in 2007, the figure had increased to 28.2 percent.
The World Health Survey conducted in Qatar in 2006 by the National Health Authority, World Health Organisation, Planning Council and Qatar Statistics Authority showed that juvenile onset diabetes in Qatar is higher than any other GCC country.
A major link was found between obesity and diabetes. Studies have found that 45 percent of the people in Qatar are obese and 55 percent of the diabetic patients are obese.
There can also be complicated interactions between lifestyle factors and genetics which lead to high incidence of the disease.
A study done by HMC’s Molecular Genetics Laboratory in 2004 showed that 138 of the 150 Qatari diabetes patients screened were found to have a hereditary gene that causes the disease.
With the prevalence of diabetes in Qatar being twice that of the United States, Qatar has been doing much to bring the situation under control. Major researches here, including the stem cell project and the Qatar Diabetes Project are focusing on diabetes. The Peninsula
