Cost of diabetes escalating

JEDDAH: Of youths under the age of 20, 5 to 10 percent suffer from diabetes, said Vice President of the Saudi Society for Children’s Medicine and head of the third annual conference for diabetes patients Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Toweim.
The two-day conference launched on Wednesday at the InterContinental Hotel in Jeddah, under the auspices of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, with attendance of 40 professors and lecturers from inside and outside the Kingdom.
According to Al-Toweim, “treatment for type I diabetes patients without any complications costs the Ministry of Health SR10,000 annually for insulin needles, while treatment for type 2 diabetes per patient ranges between SR5,000 and SR8,000 annually.”
“In cases of complications, such as renal failure, the annual cost to the ministry is between SR100,000 and SR180,000 per year,” he said.
More than 300 million people around the world suffer from diabetes, and this number is expected to increase by the year 2025, revealed chairman of the Saudi Pediatric Society Abdullah bin Omeir Al-Omeir.
During the conference, experts took part in scientific lectures and discussions about international developments in the treatment of child diabetes, including stem cell therapy, insulin, as well as technological advances in treatment options and issues of obesity and metabolic syndrome.