MUMBAI/BANGKOK -- The number of diabetes patients is surging in Asia and Africa as more people become obese due to COVID-related curbs on outdoor activities and their dietary habits change amid economic growth.
In Pakistan, there were 5.2 times more diabetes patients in 2021 than a decade earlier. Of the population from ages 20 to 79, 30% have developed diabetes. "Earlier in Pakistan, diabetes would affect people of 40 years of age, but gradually [came to affect those] in 30s, then 20s, and now we can find in teenagers type two of diabetes," said Matiullah Khan, an endocrinologist at the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
