KARACHI, Feb 15: Speakers at a seminar on Friday warned that if effective preventive measures were not taken the diabetic population in the country would increase more than threefold in next 25 years.

Speaking at a seminar on diabetes organized by the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI), they said that at present there were over 4.3 million diabetics in the country which now ranked eighth in the world, but by 2025 the number of the diseased people was expected to be 14.5 million, with the country being elevated to the fourth place.

They said that regular moderate exercise like a brisk walk of about 40 minutes would go a long way in management of diabetes. They also advised that body weight should be strictly controlled and maintained and risk food with high sugar and cholesterol content must be avoided.

They said that a diabetic person could control the disease with medicines and disciplined diet, but there was no permanent cure available.

Highlighting the harmful effects of smoking on normal people, they stressed that if a diabetic person was a smoker, his chances of death increased by more 120 per cent in 10 years, than those a nonsmoker diabetic person.

They said that if awareness was spread among the four Ps — policy makers, public, patients and professionals — situation could improve greatly.

Chief guest, Sindh governor Mohammedmian Soomro, speaking on the occasion urged the professional and technical people to make workable policies so that those could easily be implemented and the disease, that was spreading fast, could be effectively controlled, or at least its speed of spread could be brought down.

He said that the country was seriously facing another kind of AIDS — Acquired Income Deficiency Syndrome — so the professionals should also keep in mind the limited resources available while making policies.

He said that some time back Sindh’s financial affairs were in bad shape as a large chunk was spend on debt serving and loan repayment, but with sustained effective measures things had started to improve, though still it was not completely out of the woods.

But, he said, a large amount of charity money was available in the country and many a philanthropists were ready to fund good causes, the only requirement was to gain their confidence so that they were sure that their money was being spent judiciously and for a good cause.

In a lighter vein he also pointed out a serious issue and urged the doctors to lower their fees, that usually caused people tension which was said to be one of the causes of diabetes.

Referring to a point raised by an earlier speaker regarding the ban on employments, he said that SESSI could fill its vacancies of doctors and paramedics if no Sindh government funds were involved and their salaries were paid from the SESSI funds.

Referring to another point made an earlier speaker he advised SESSI to screen all its workers and their dependents so that a clear picture of disease prevalence in its workers could emerge. He also advised SESSI to open up diabetes clinics in its hospitals.

He, however, urged philanthropists and masses to play their due role and join hands with the government to control the disease that was spreading at a rapid pace, as the government alone would not be able to check it.

Earlier, the other speakers said that over 80 per cent of the medical services were being provided by the general practitioners, but a vast majority of them were not properly trained to treat the disease. They said that opening up a few high profile hospitals would not solve the problem, the need was that small clinics be opened up in all the teaching and the district hospitals, with properly trained staffs.

Pointing out the high cost of treatment and medicines, they urged the government to waive off the import duty and taxes on the medicines and other equipment required for the disease.

They said that SESSI had been spending over 70 per cent (over Rs 250 million) of its budget on providing medical assistance to its over 1.2 million registered workers and their dependents — nearly 8,000 of whom were suffering from diabetes. It was also spending Rs 17 million to upgrade and modernise its hospitals.

They said that earlier only those organizations were registered with the SESSI where more than 10 workers were employed, but after the recent policy now orgnazations with five or more workers would also be registered, which on the one hand would increase the income of SESSI and on the other provide services to more workers.

They also demanded that SESSI be allowed to fill up its vacancies of 62 doctors and 126 paramedics, which had remained vacant for a long time due to a general ban imposed on government recruitments, so that better medical facilities could be provided to the workers.

Samad Shera, Noorjehan Samad, Raja M. Abbas, A. Burq, Najamul Islam, Sabihuddin Baqai, Mashoor A. Shah, Shahad Abid, Zaman Shaikh, Fatema Hassan and others spoke on the occasion.