Lahore: Pakistan is heading toward a major health catastrophe as over 45 million people are either living with diabetes or are at high risk of developing the disease, senior diabetologists have warned, saying the country’s healthcare system may struggle to cope with the rapidly growing epidemic driven by obesity, junk food, physical inactivity and unhealthy lifestyles.
Experts said nearly one in every three adults in Pakistan was now affected by diabetes, making the country one of the worst hit nations globally, while hundreds of thousands of people were dying every year from diabetes related complications including kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, blindness and amputations.
The alarming concerns were raised during a diabetes awareness and patient engagement event organized under the “AWAZ” and “Discovering Diabetes” initiatives, where endocrinologists, physicians, diabetes educators and healthcare experts stressed the urgent need for technology driven healthcare solutions to tackle the worsening crisis.
According to figures shared at the event, around 34.5 million Pakistani adults are currently living with diabetes while more than 10 million others are considered at high risk of developing the disease. The International Diabetes Federation estimates Pakistan’s adult diabetes prevalence at 31.4 percent, with over 226,000 diabetes related deaths occurring annually in the country.
Renowned endocrinologist Prof Dr Syed Abbas Raza said diabetes had reached epidemic proportions in Pakistan and warned that millions of people were silently developing life threatening complications because of delayed diagnosis and poor disease management.
“Almost 27 percent diabetic patients in Pakistan remain undiagnosed and continue living with the disease unknowingly. By the time many patients are diagnosed, complications have already started,” he said.
He maintained that unhealthy eating habits, excessive junk food consumption, obesity, lack of exercise and poor sleep patterns were major factors fueling the crisis.
Prof Abbas Raza warned that Pakistan was also facing an acute shortage of diabetes specialists, leaving millions of patients without access to proper medical care.
“With over 34 million diabetic patients and only a limited number of endocrinologists and diabetologists concentrated in major cities, specialists alone cannot physically monitor and counsel every patient,” he said.
According to statistics shared during the event, Pakistan currently has only around 43 to 53 endocrinology centers and nearly 123 diabetology specialist practices for millions of patients across the country.
He stressed that digital healthcare platforms, artificial intelligence based systems, virtual consultations and diabetes monitoring technologies were now the only practical tools capable of reaching millions of patients in underserved urban and rural areas.
“Technology is now the only realistic way to bridge this massive healthcare gap,” he added.
Prof Abbas Raza advised diabetic patients to strictly monitor blood sugar, blood pressure and body weight to avoid serious complications, recommending HbA1c below seven percent, body mass index below 23 and blood pressure at or below 130/80 mmHg.
He said the AWAZ initiative was helping train general practitioners under the supervision of senior specialists to improve diabetes screening, counselling and disease management through technology assisted healthcare solutions.
Project Director of Discovering Diabetes and Chief Executive Officer of PharmEvo Syed Jamshed Ahmed said Pakistan was facing a dual crisis of rapidly increasing diabetes cases and severe shortage of specialized healthcare professionals.
“Millions of Pakistanis either do not know they have diabetes or are living with dangerously uncontrolled disease,” he said, stressing that early diagnosis and lifestyle modification were critical to preventing complications and premature deaths.
He said the Discovering Diabetes initiative, launched in 2021, was using digital platforms, a toll free helpline and an artificial intelligence based WhatsApp chatbot to identify high risk individuals and connect them with diabetes educators and endocrinologists.
According to data shared at the event, the initiative has so far reached over 11.1 million people, identified more than one million high risk individuals, connected around 480,000 people with healthcare educators and doctors and provided support and guidance to more than 360,000 individuals.
Officials further said over 4,400 patients had so far been enrolled on the AWAZ portal while thousands of diabetes education sessions and virtual consultations by endocrinologists had also been conducted.
Experts warned that unless Pakistan adopted aggressive prevention strategies, promoted healthy lifestyles and expanded access to technology driven healthcare, the diabetes epidemic could place an unbearable burden on hospitals, families and the national economy in coming years.
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