TEHRAN – The health ministry is observing national diabetes week from November 11 to 17 to raise public awareness of the disease and highlight the importance of prevention and early diagnosis in its effective management.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose. Hyperglycaemia, also called raised blood glucose or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
Currently, more than 588 million people aged 20–79 years are living with diabetes, and the figure is projected to exceed 852 million by 2050. In addition, some 252 million individuals are not aware of their conditions yet.
Based on the results of the eighth national survey of non-communicable diseases (NCD) risk factors, carried out in Iranian year 1400 (2021-2022), at least 14 percent of the population aged above 25, equal to 7.5 million people, suffer from diabetes, the health ministry’s website quoted Jafar Jandaghi, an official with the health ministry, as saying.
When including those with prediabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, the total number reaches 20 million, he…
