A survey done among the 400,000 people living in Biratnagar, Itahari, Inaruwa, Dharan, Dhankuta and Khandbari by Dr Govinda Poudel showed that 16,400 were diabetic. It also found that 19.3% of the diabetic, which comes out at 3,165, are having problems with their eyes due to diabetes. [break]
Dr Poudel says that lifestyle, eating habits and the environment in the towns have contributed to the increase in diabetes.
The survey points out that 8,200 people out of the population of 200,000 living in Biratnagar have the lifestyle disease and 1,582 of them have developed eyesight problems. Similarly 2,500 persons out of Itahari´s population of 50,000 are diabetic with 395 of them also suffering from eye problems.
Nepal Diabetes Association estimates that 1,335,091 people in Nepal suffer from diabetes and says 146,860 of them are having difficulties with their vision. The association says 14.6% of the urban population in Nepal above 20 years of age is diabetic.
There is a huge disparity in the numbers of diabetic patients between villages and towns. The association says that while 20% of the urban population of 5,427,200 —which comes out to 542,720 — is diabetic, the prevalence of diabetes is just 2.5% in the rural population of 21,708,802.
International Diabetes Association estimates that every 10 seconds one person in the world dies of diabetes and two more people develop the disease. It says India has the largest diabetic population of 4.1 million out of around 25 million in the whole world and estimates that this total number will rise to 38 million by the year 2025.
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