KARACHI, Dec 12: Speakers at an international conference on diabetes have stressed the need for undertaking joint initiatives to check the prevalence of diabetes and promote essential education for an improved management of the disease.

They said diabetes required the development of a comprehensive, integrated programme of prevention, care and rehabilitation.

The three-day conference, organised by the Dow University of Health Sciences in collaboration with the Diabetes Association of Pakistan, concluded on Monday.

It noted that strategic alliances between governments, industry, civil society and international organisations be developed to ensure patients’ access to essential medicines and adoption of best practices by physicians.

Sir Michael Hirst, president-elect of the International Diabetes Federation, predicted that the number of people suffering from diabetes in the world would increase by about 10 per cent of the population — from 366 million to 552 million — by 2030.

He said the number of people with type 2 diabetes was increasing every year and four of every five cases of type 2 would be in low- and middle-income countries.

According to him, diabetes consumed $465 billion of healthcare expenditures in 2011, i.e. 11pc of the total healthcare expenditures on adults. He said he saw no major change in the list of the top 10 countries/territories for the prevalence of diabetes, but changes in the placement of countries were expected by 2030.

In the South Asian region, Pakistan has diabetes prevalence of 6.72pc (6.349 million of people aged from 20 to 79). India has diabetes prevalence of 8.31pc, Bangladesh of 9.58pc, and Sri Lanka of 7.77pc. Pakistan ranks third in the region as far as the number of population affected by diabetes is concerned.

He said the IDF strategic goal was to drive change at all levels, from local to global, to prevent diabetes and increase access to essential medicines and to develop and encourage best practice in diabetes policy, management and education.

Speaking on ‘The evolving role of the diabetes specialists nurses beyond therapeutic patient education: A European perspective’, Anne-Marie Felton, vice president of the IDF, said the federation wanted to promote the delivery of evidence-based care for people with diabetes, develop and promote the professional role of the diabetes nurse, influence European healthcare policy relevant to diabetes care and research and cooperate and collaborate with national and international healthcare organisations.

She said the diabetes specialist nurse in the 21st century was required to be an educator, counsellor, advocate, clinician, manager, researcher, innovator and influencer simultaneously. The nurses had a great role in the primary prevention of diseases, self-care support and education, care system and therapies, she said, identifying the primary prevention areas of nursing contribution as screening at risk population, delivering lifestyle and nutritional support, behaviour change interventions, public health interventions.

Dr Zaman Shaikh, director of the National Institute of Diabetes & Endocrinology, DUHS, spoke on ‘Diabetic retinopathy — Pakistan perspective’.

He said diabetes affected 10pc of adult population in Pakistan and had the potential to become the third most common cause of blindness in Pakistan. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Pakistan ranges between 21pc and 24pc, he said, adding that diabetes occurred at a much younger age in the South Asian countries than it did in developed countries, and each year, 12,000 to 24,000 people lost their sight because of Diabetes Mellitus.

He further said the longer a patient had diabetes, the greater was their risk to develop retinopathy. Puberty and pregnancy could trigger an increase in risk of retinopathy in patients with previously diagnosed diabetes.

Dr Samad A. Shera, director of the Diabetes Association of Pakistan, said globally every 10 seconds one person died of diabetes and in the same 10 seconds two persons developed diabetes. He said high prevalence, exponential increase in population, limited national resources and low literacy rate were the major challenges to diabetes care in developing countries.

“We know enough about diabetes, its prevalence and the risk factors. Now is the time to act and implement what we know in terms of diabetes prevention and control,” he said.