Action call as report highlights $2.7bn diabetes bill

TESTING TIMES: A simple blood test could help to detect diabetes early, says health chiefs. (Getty Images)

New research claims that diabetes will cost the UAE an estimated 10 billion dirhams ($2.7 billion) by 2020 if action is not taken to tackle the growing problem.

The alarming figure comes in a report initiated by the National Health Insurance Company (Daman) which says that even though diabetes represents only five per cent of their health insurance claims, it was the UAE's biggest health problem, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Wednesday.

Dr Alfons Grabosch, Consultant for disease management at Daman told the paper that an average of 15,000 dirhams is currently spent on diabetes per person a year.

"Everyone who's a payer (patient and government) will end up paying more for diabetic related conditions than ever before if the condition is not tackled immediately," added Grabosch.

According to reports published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) the UAE has the second highest diabetes prevalence in the world with 19.6 per cent of population - with approximately 150 million people worldwide living with the condition and the number is expected to double by 2025.

Dr Cother Hajat, head of Public Health Programmes at the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD), has also published data showing that the current prevalence among UAE nationals aged 30 to 64 is 29 per cent, of which nearly half are undiagnosed and a further 24 per cent are at risk.

Dr Jad Aoun, chief medical officer at Daman, urged people to stay active, follow a healthy diet and undergo a blood test to test for diabetes as ways of helping to fight the disease.

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