Kingdom has diabetes prevalence rate of 19.6%

Manama : Bahrain has the fourth highest prevalence of diabetes in the GCC, a recent study revealed.

According to a study by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Bahrain has a diabetes prevalence rate of 19.6 per cent. All of the GCC countries have higher diabetes prevalence rate when compared to the world average. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have the highest rate of diabetes prevalence at 20 per cent. UAE and Oman were found to be healthier than Bahrain with UAE having 19.3 per cent prevalence rate and Oman at 14.8 per cent.

According to IDF, 13.6 per cent of the MENA population has been diagnosed with diabetes while the global average is 8.5 per cent. Diabetes is forecast to rise in the next 10 years despite the various measures being taken.

Last year Ministry of Health had announced that the rate of diabetes incidence in adult population had reached about 14.3 per cent and warned that the number could rise to 20 per cent when the vulnerable population are taken into consideration.