Diabetes treatment becomes costlier

Staff Reporter :
Diabetes treatment has become huge costlier in Bangladesh as the medicines and insulin’s prices soared up.
“Keeping diabetes under control is more costlier than keeping it uncontrolled. So, everyone should be alert on preventing the disease,” AK Azad Khan, the National Professor and President of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (BADAS) said.
“Diabetes treatment become huge costlier in Bangladesh due to increase of price of medicines and insulin. So, people should be utmost aware of preventing the disease,” he said while addressing a meeting of Diabetes Awareness Day, the 67th anniversary of BADAS in the BIRDEM auditorium in the capital on Tuesday.
In his speech, the chief guest Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed recalled the memory of the National Professor Dr. Ibrahim. He expressed his respect to Prof Ibrahim. He said Mohammad Ibrahim’s contribution is undeniable.
Bangladesh Diabetic Association Secretary General Md. Saif Uddin and Director General of BIRDEM, Professor MKI Qayyum Chowdhury, among others, gave speeches. Speakers in the meeting said that the number of diabetes cases in Bangladesh has been rising at an alarming rate over the past few years, and the increase is starting to strain the country’s health sector.
The health experts attributed the increase to a greater number of people leading unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles with fast-food dependent diets.
According to the latest data from the health authorities, about 8.5 million people suffer from diabetes in the country. Around 5pc of the patients suffer from type-1 diabetes, and 95pc from type-2.
Experts said that most people suffer from diabetes owing to a lack of awareness and because of ignorance of nutritional information. Up to 75pc of diabetes cases can be prevented if people follow healthy lifestyles based on the recommendations of doctors.
They said that diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin or when the body cannot use the insulin produced effectively. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
Type-1 diabetes is insulin-dependent diabetes, which occurs chronically when the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Diabetes experts said that type-1 diabetics must take regular insulin to stay healthy, while type-2 diabetics don’t need to take insulin unless their condition becomes severe.
They urged the government to provide free insulin to save people’s lives from the chronic disease.
Professor AK Azad Khan said, “Type-1 diabetes complications can affect important organs of the body, including the heart, blood vessels, nervous system, eyes and kidneys. Because of this, a large number of people in Bangladesh die of diabetes or diabetes-related complications.”
The national professor further said that technology-dependence and unplanned urbanisation are playing major roles in more people leading sedentary lifestyles, thereby increasing the risk of diabetes.
“We are noticing that type-2 diabetes is increasing rapidly in the country due to unhealthy lifestyles. One of the reasons is that children are growing up in confined spaces and most educational institutions do not have playgrounds,” he said
The health experts observed that most people are unaware that they have type 2 diabetes, leading to serious risk of it developing into type-1.