Islamabad - Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar stressed the need for concerted efforts by all segments of society to create awareness to fight Diabetes which has reached epidemic proportion in the country.
In her message on the occasion of World Diabetes Day, she said that it is clear that urban lifestyles are driving a sharp rise in non-communicable diseases.
“From rising wealth and increasing consumption, to more sedentary lifestyles and access to healthcare, urban living presents a challenge to health. We as a nation need to develop a lifestyle that includes more activity and healthy dietary options,” she added.
She said that there should be no doubt that urban diabetes is an emergency in slow motion, but it is not inevitable. “Let us all put our efforts to stop diabetes as we mark World Diabetes Day on Thursday. We are committed to embrace this challenge and have already started our fight against diabetes burden as we had Pakistan Diabetes leadership forum earlier this year. We are ready to work on the Islamabad Call to Action, which provided a framework to address this challenge,” she added.
She said that the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination cognizant of the seriousness of the issue has recently established a Non-communicable Diseases Cell to develop national guidelines, coordination and consolidate efforts in support of the provincial governments in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, hypertension etc.