Number of diabetes patients keeps rising in Malaysia

AT least 11 out of 100 Malaysians suffer from diabetes, the house heard yesterday.

Health Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon said the sufferers were aged between 25 and 64.According to a study by the ministry last year, an estimated 1.33 million Malaysians between the ages of 25 and 64 had diabetes.There were 41,464 cases detected last year, an increase of 27 per cent compared to 30,281 cases recorded in 2001.Lee said the numbers, which increased steadily every year, were based on patients admitted to government hospitals.

"The actual number of patients is obviously much higher. We are collecting information to develop a national database for non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, under the Ninth Malaysia Plan," said Lee in reply to Datuk Baharum Mohamed (BN-Sekijang).Lee added that the ministry had no plans to establish a specialist centre to treat diabetics because the disease was controllable."It is the contributing diseases that we are worried about because diabetes itself is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle." To a supplementary question by Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai), Lee said the ministry could not ban products such as soft drinks but would focus on awareness campaigns and educating the public on a healthy lifestyle