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Move to reduce rise in diabetes cases

AL AIN - According to the Central Statistics Department of the Ministry of Health, the cases of mortality because of diabetes mellitus constitute 75 per cent of the deaths among UAE nationals and 31 among non-nationals.

According to the statistics released recently at a conference held here, about 15 per cent of the country's population are diabetics.

Diabetics and its complications were the focus the conference titled, "Symposium on the Latest Diabetic Nutrition and Health Education", organised by the Abu Dhabi General Authority for Health Services, Al Ain Medical District (AAMD) in collaboration with Tawam Hospital.

Clyde Eder, Director of Tawam Hospital, called on all the participants to, "come out with a preventive programme to help the UAE citizens to combat diabetes by having a suitable diet, change of lifestyle".

Addressing the opening ceremony of the one-day symposium, Nada Zuhair, Director of the Nutrition Department of AAMD, said: " The number of diabetics in the UAE is expected to increase throughout the coming years.

However, this can be reduced if we accomplish our mission to improve the lives of people who suffer from this disease".

This conference was aimed at "introducing the latest developments in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus in the UAE," she said. This, she said, was in addition to, "defining nutritional prescription of diabetes patients and specifying the basis of meal planning."

Six experts from the Al Ain Hospital's Faculty of Food Systems of the UAE University and AAMD presented four lectures that tackled different topics related to diabetes like its treatment with insulin and oral medicines, nutritional treatment and nutrition education for diabetics.

Experts and doctors from the different health facilities in Al Ain attended the event.

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