SUVA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Around 15 percent of Fiji's adult population are suffering from diabetes with the late presentation of patients to hospitals being among the major hindrances in improving the situation.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), Colonial War Memorial Hospital general surgeon Ilaitia Delasau said Wednesday that the prevalence is very alarming, demanding urgent attention.

Delasau noted that one of the major contributors to diabetes in Fiji is the lifestyle including the food eaten on a daily basis.

"Obesity and the lack of exercise is the major contributing factor to developing diabetes so the body can't control the sugar level and not just from sweets, it's from too much input, a lot of food in and not enough exercise," he said.

"So we are having excess stores in our body where the insulin which is the hormone that controls diabetes can't cope with the amount of sugar in our body so hence we develop symptoms of diabetes," he said.

Diabetes-related amputations in Fiji account for 40 percent of all hospital operations, according to Professor of Surgery at Fiji National University, Eddie McCaig.

McCaig said in an earlier interview that half the estimated 60,000 people in Fiji with diabetes did not realize they had the illness because they ignored early signs like thirst and excessive urination.

He added that Fiji can't afford the high cost of the amputations, as well as eye surgery costs.

"We must start educating our kids. It must be introduced in the curriculum and enforced and examined. People must know what to eat, and how to eat," McCaig said.

McCaig said that about half of Fiji's diabetics also needed eye surgery for cataracts or laser treatment for retinopathy and their kidneys were also affected by the disease, he said.

There was about 900 cases each year who need renal dialysis.

Fiji has a population of around 900,000 people. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)