Mohamed Ameen Dabhelia- 2016/05/20

Local doctors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia say the treatment of diabetes patient’s costs government SR 14 billion (R 56 billion) a year.

Naji Jamil Al-Juhani, chairman of the scientific committee at a diabetes conference underway in Riyadh, said recently that this cost is 15 percent of the health budget, with one patient’s treatment amounting to about SR 1 million (R 4 million) annually.

The conference has been organized by the Saudi Charitable Association of Diabetes in Riyadh, with the participation of a large number of local and international specialists and researchers.

Al-Juhani says 3.7 million people in Saudi Arabia have the illness, with more than 2 million between the ages of 40 and 60 years of age, and a further 2 million at serious risk.

He says 14,000 people die annually of the illness, the third-highest after heart disease and high blood pressure and people develop diabetes because of lifestyle choices, including lack of exercise and poor eating habits.

Al-Juhani says diabetes is a major cause of heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and amputations, and lowers life expectancy by about eight to 10 years.

–Arab News

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