One million people suffer from diabetes

Dec 12, 2004

THE number of diabetic people has risen from 98,000 in 2000 to one million this year.

By Charles Ariko

THE number of diabetic people has risen from 98,000 in 2000 to one million this year.

The president of the Uganda Diabetes association, Prof. Andrew Marcel Otim, said the patients were likely to increase due to the people’s lifestyle.

Otim said diabetic people also developed other complications like high blood pressure.

He said diabetes could be chronic if not detected early. He said it could also lead to kidney failure, coronary heart disease, blindness and impotence.

Otim said recent studies showed that students were becoming obese and risking contracting the disease.

He was on Thursday speaking at celebrations of the World Diabetes Day at Naggalama Primary School in Mukono district.

Health minister Jim Muhwezi urged the public to check their lifestyle.

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