JOHANNESBURG,
Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Diabetes is responsible for over three million deaths
worldwide every year and is likely to affect about six percent of the global
population by 2025.
The warning came ahead of the 19th World Diabetes
Congress to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from Dec. 3-7.
There are currently 240 million people with diabetes
worldwide. By 2025, 80 percent of people with the disease will live in
developing countries, said the event's official website.
The conference, organized by the International
Diabetes Federation (IDF), has the potential to influence health authorities to
make the fight against diabetes a higher priority, it said.
The conference will take a special look at diabetes
in Africa, which is often plagued by communicable diseases such as malaria and
HIV/AIDS.
For the African continent, raising awareness of the
seriousness of diabetes is fundamental due to the considerable burden that
diabetes exerts on often limited health resources, said Francois Bonnici, chair
of the congress Local Organizing Committee.
Rapid cultural and social changes, such as growing
urbanization and the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, are resulting in an
increase in the numbers of people with and at risk of type II diabetes.
Type II diabetes now constitutes more than 85 percent
to 95 percent of all diabetes cases in developing countries and the prevalence
of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), often called pre-diabetes, is more than
twice that of diabetes in the African Region, said Bonnici.
"We hope the Congress will influence African health
authorities to prioritize the needs of people with diabetes, assist in the
education and empowerment, and deliver a fair and equitable service to them,"
Bonnici said.
Diabetes was not as attention attracting as HIV/AIDS,
" but it will be the pandemic of this century," said Luc Hendrickx, executive
director of the Brussels-based IDF.
He said the three-yearly congress was one of the
channels the federation used to communicate its message, which included a
campaign for a United Nations resolution on diabetes calling on individual
countries to adopt national diabetes programs.
The event will attract more than 10,000 medical
experts and speakers, provide a platform for discussion of the latest scientific
advances in the field, and offer practical information on diabetes care,
advocacy and awareness, the organizers said.
The IDF currently represents 197 Diabetes
Associations in 157 countries.
