An average of 8,000 Thais die from diabetes each year and more than 3.5 million are suffering from the disease, the country's Public Health Ministry has said.
According to a report on Bangkok Post on Thursday, the figures above come from the most recent health survey of Thai people aged over 15 years, conducted by the ministry in 2012.
Health Minister Pradit Sintawanarong noted that the incidence of the disease is rising among children who consume more sweet foods and are overweight.
If there is no effective prevention, he warned, the number of patients could rise to 4.7 million over the next eight years.
What's worrying is that about a third of people with diabetes do not realize they have the disease, because they have never been properly diagnosed, said Pradit.
As a result, around 70 percent of people with diabetes cannot control their blood sugar level and many of them progress to heart disease, renal failure, amputations, blindness and other afflictions.
Nationwide, the cost of treating diabetes patients was as high as 47.6 billion baht (about 1.53 billion U.S. dollars) a year, so prevention was important, he said.
The ministry will, from next year, start providing diabetes tests for up to 90 percent of people aged over 15 years, and offer appropriate consultation with encouragement for them to change their consumption behavior, said the minister.
The ministry also sets a goal that at least 40 percent of diabetes patients will get proper treatment and focus on food control, exercise and medication.
Source: Xinhua
