Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region
Studies performed in six countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Region – Bahrain 1 , Egypt 2 3 , Kuwait 4 , Oman 5 , Saudi Arabia 6 7 8 9 and United Arab Emirates 10 - have shown their current diabetes prevalence to be among the world’s 10 highest, and a similar situation applies for the IGT prevalences of some of these countries (see Table 1 and 2). The ageing of populations, together with socio-economic changes and westernisation, has resulted in the dramatic increase in the diabetes prevalence.
Over the past three decades major social and economic changes have occurred in the majority of these nations. These include progressive urbanization, decreasing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy. Rapid economic development, especially among the more wealthy oil-producing countries, has been associated with tremendous changes in lifestyle towards the westernized pattern reflected by changes in nutrition, less physical activity, tendency to increased obesity and more smoking 11 12 13 14 15 .
At a glance
|
2007 |
2025 |
|
| Total population (millions) |
592 |
814 |
| Adult population (age 20-79, millions) |
318 |
492 |
|
|
||
| Diabetes (20-79 age group) | ||
| Regional prevalence (%) |
7.7 |
9.0 |
| Comparative prevalence (%) |
9.2 |
10.4 |
| Number of people with diabetes (millions) |
24.5 |
44.5 |
| Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) (20- 79 age group) | ||
| Regional prevalence (%) |
7.0 |
7.8 |
| Comparative prevalence (%) |
8.1 |
8.8 |
| Number of people with IGT (millions) |
22.4 |
38.6 |
Diabetes and IGT prevalence
The explosion of diabetes in the EMME Region is mainly due to type 2 diabetes. As with many other countries with high diabetes prevalence, the onset of type 2 diabetes tends to occur at a relatively young age. An estimated 24.5 million people, or 7.7% of the adult population, had diabetes in 2007 (see Table 1), with the number of those with diabetes expected to nearly double by 2025. Similarly the number of persons with IGT is expected to also rise markedly by 2025, increasing the likelihood of further increases in the prevalence of diabetes as the century proceeds.
The comparative prevalences for 2007, when applied to a world standard population distribution rather than the young population distribution common in the region, are as high as 20% in the United Arab Emirates 10 , 15% in Bahrain and Qatar 1 , but even in much less affluent Pakistan the prevalence is 9.6% 16 17 18 .
In contrast to Africa, there are a large number of studies reporting diabetes prevalence, so that of the 22 countries of the Region, 16 have data available, from which national prevalence estimates could be derived (see Table 1.16). Since the second edition of the Diabetes Atlas, new data have been included for Algeria 19 , Iran 20 , Morocco 21 , Occupied Palestinian Territory 22 23 , Saudi Arabia 7 8 9 , Syrian Arab Republic 24 and Yemen 25 . These new studies have led to an increase in estimated prevalence for all of these populations, except Yemen, for which data from Oman had previously been used 5 .
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12.Arab,M. Epidemiology of diabetes mellitus in Egypt. Egypt J of Diab.1997; 2: 1-14
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16.Shera,A.S. Rafique,G. Khawaja,I.A. Baqai,S. King,H. Pakistan National Diabetes Survey: prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in Baluchistan province. Diabetes Res Clin Pract.1999; 44(1): 49-58
17.Shera,A.S. Rafique,G. Khwaja,I.A. Ara,J. Baqai,S. King,H. Pakistan National Diabetes survey: prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in Shikarpur, Sindh Province. Diabet Med.1995; 12(12): 1116-1121
18.Shera,A.S. Rafique,G. Khwaja,I.A. Baqai,S. Khan,I.A. King,H. Ahmed,K.I. Pakistan National Diabetes Survey prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc.1999; 49(9): 206-211
19.Malek,R. Belateche,F. Laouamri,S. Hamdi-Cherif,M. Touabti,A. Bendib,W. Nechadi,A. Mekideche,F.Z. Hanat,S. [Prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and glucose intolerance in the Setif area (Algeria)]. Diabetes Metab.2001; 27(2 Pt 1): 164-171
20.Azizi,F. Salehi,P. Etemadi,A. Zahedi-Asl,S. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in an urban population: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Diabetes Res Clin Pract.2003; 61(1): 29-37
21.Tazi,M.A. Abir-Khalil,S. Chaouki,N. Cherqaoui,S. Lahmouz,F. Srairi,J.E. Mahjour,J. Prevalence of the main cardiovascular risk factors in Morocco: results of a National Survey, 2000. J Hypertens.2003; 21(5): 897-903
22.Abdul-Rahim,H.F. Husseini,A. Giacaman,R. Jervell,J. Bjertness,E. Diabetes mellitus in an urban Palestinian population: prevalence and associated factors. East Mediterr Health J.2001; 7(1-2): 67-78
23.Husseini,A. Abdul-Rahim,H. Awartani,F. Jervell,J. Bjertness,E. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in a rural Palestinian population. East Mediterr Health J.2000; 6(5-6): 1039-1045
24.Albache,N. , personal communication.2006
25.Al-Habori,M. Al-Mamari,M. Al-Meeri,A. Type 2 diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in Yemen: prevalence, associated metabolic changes and risk factors.. Diabetes Res Clin Pract.2004; 65(3): 275-281
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