COLOMBO, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has called for a national action plan to combat diabetes which has transformed into a major non-communicable disease affecting millions of people globally, local media reported Monday.
Sirisena who took part in a special walk last Sunday at the Galle Face Green in Colombo to mark the World Diabetes Day which falls on Nov. 14 said diabetes had become a major concern for people in Sri Lanka and around the world and proposed to implement a diabetes control month which would raise awareness against the killer disease.
Sirisena said programs would be implemented islandwide with the participation of doctors and staff of all hospitals to raise awareness among people about the disease and ways to prevent it.
He said in the future firm decisions would be implemented to discourage unhealthy food production in the country.
He further stressed the need to show the sugar content in various foods available in the market and implement the tax proposed in the budget proposals for sugary drinks.
According to official statistics available from the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka, approximately 2 million Sri Lankans are living with diabetes while another 2 million have pre-diabetes.
