71pc never had blood sugar tested

Shakhawat Hossain (52) has been bedridden for the last three months, due to a surgery on his left toe on August 19 this year. A week before the surgery, he had an injury in the toe caused by a treenail. As he is a diabetic patient, since 2014, medication did not work on the injury and there was no option other than surgery.

“The situation got worse in less than a week, and I was suggested to have surgery. Since the surgery, I’ve been bedridden. I can’t do anything and my family is very worried for me,” said Shakhawat, father of two and an employee at Jahangirnagar University. 

In 2014, Shakhawat learnt about his diabetes all of a sudden, when he sought medical consult for drastic weight loss and weakness. The non-communicable disease has also impacted his family, as he is the sole earning member.

With World Diabetes Day today, there are over 73 lakh detected diabetes patients across the country, and the disease puts immense burden not just on the patients but also their loved ones.

Physicians say that most of the diabetes cases are preventable through maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet.

Sixty-five percent of diabetes patients have been brought under treatment till date, according to Diabetic Association of Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, a new study reveals that the number of diabetes patients is higher than the traditional estimate.

Diabetes has been detected in some 25.6 percent people who were, until then, unaware of their status, according to the association.

The organisation conducted the screening on one lakh people across the country throughout the month of November 2018, as part of World Diabetes Day campaign.

“It was not a representative study as people from all classes were not targeted. So the number could be lower; though it is higher than the traditional estimation,” Prof AK Azad Khan, president of the association, told The Daily Star.

According to Bangladesh Non-communicable Disease Risk Factor Survey 2018, some 70.8 percent people of the country have never had blood glucose test in their lifetime.

Prof Azad also said, “It is a fact that type-2 diabetes (out of type-1, type-2 and gestational) is the most common (around 90 percent of total patients). Seventy percent of those cases are preventable if a healthy lifestyle is maintained.”

He also pointed out that alongside fast food and lack of physical activity, use of tobacco and tobacco products increase prevalence of diabetes.

Prof Azad said, “It has been scientifically proven that those who start smoking at a young age are at 25 percent accelerated risk of diabetes.”

Coming down heavily on production of tobacco and tobacco products, he said, “The cigarette companies are the big killers. Cigarettes should be banned. But the reality is completely opposite. So, there is a need of mass awareness and action.”

He also suggested diabetes screening before pregnancy and urged the government to supply insulin for free to type-1 diabetes patients.