World Health Organisation warns of "diabetes epidemic" in Asia.

(From Thai Press Reports)

Section: General News - Asia is likely to suffer social and economic devastation from an escalating diabetes epidemic that could be even more crippling than HIV/Aids or a feared influenza pandemic, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert warned on Wednesday, The Nation reports.

Asia has four of the five largest diabetes populations in the world, with 90 million people currently living with the disease. Without quick and effective intervention it could be facing a disaster, said Professor Paul Zimmet, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Diabetes and the International Diabetes Institute in Australia.

The WHO projects that there will be as many as 200 million diabetics in Asia within a decade, he added, citing its recent report, "Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment".

"This is a global diabetic tsunami that will become the health crisis of the 21st century and could reduce life expectancy globally for the first time in 200 years," said Zimmet, who was speaking at the Sixth International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Congress on Wednesday.

Governments are currently occupied with HIV/Aids and bird flu, and are not recognising the trouble ...