Ambassador Jakob Linulf surprised to learn about statistics of diabetes in Pakistan
Staff Writer
Islamabad: Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan Jakob Linulf said this week that he was surprised to learn about the statistics of diabetes in Pakistan.
“Surprised to learn 1 in 4 adults living w #Diabetes in Pakistan,” he tweeted, advising all to adopt health habits.
Ambassador Jakob Linulf, said that diabetes was a very critical health challenge and we needed to change our lifestyle to tackle it.
He said that Denmark would always support and share its experience with Pakistan with regard to the disease.
The envoy participated in a ceremony held here to commemorate World Diabetes Day. Vice Chancellor of Health Services Academy Dr Shahzad Ali Khan, health professionals and others also attended the event.
In his speech, President Dr Arif Alvi urged the need to prevent and better manage diabetes, which was a silent killer, by focusing on promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The healthy lifestyle may include regular exercise, diet spread, weight control, avoiding overeating and early diagnoses and proper management of this disease to reduce the disease burden which was third largest in the world after China and India, he added.
He noted that Pakistan was the third largest country in terms of diabetes prevalence, over 33 million were diabetic and 400,000 people died every year due to diabetes and other complications of this silent-killer disease.
The President called upon relevant stakeholders to make use of the experience gained by our healthcare providers during polio vaccination campaigns and COVID-19 campaigns where Pakistan adopted out-of-the-box solutions and managed to save the lives and livelihoods of our people.
He further said that this experience could help us in the prevention of diabetes and its proper and cost-effective management.
Earlier, VC Health Services Academy, Dr Shahzad Ali Khan, elaborated on the existing situation of diabetes in Pakistan.
He said that non-communicable diseases were also on the rise in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was number three in the world with the highest number of diabetes cases and approximately 33 million people were diabetic.
