Malaysia has a full-blown sugar-fuelled diabetes crisis
Diabetes is no longer a disease of the elderly as even teenagers are being afflicted with it. Consultant endocrinologist Dr Malathi Karupiah said a survey conducted by the National Health Institute indicated that one in every five Malaysians was diabetic.
She said Type 2 diabetes, which is due to insulin resistance, was the most common in the country.
“In addition to this, there are also those who are pre-diabetic, as well as people who are unaware that they have diabetes,” said Dr Malathi.
She added that diabetes is a very serious condition that can adversely affect the kidneys, heart and eyes, as well as shorten one’s lifespan by a decade.
Dr Malathi explained that diabetes occurs when the body becomes insulin-resistant because the insulin produced by the body is insufficient.
Insulin is a type of hormone that controls blood sugar levels and helps the body turn food into energy.
“As prevention is better than cure, it is important for us to be mindful of what we eat. Lifestyle management with diet and exercise are the most important components in curbing the disease,” she said.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced recently when tabling Budget 2024 that the excise duty on sugary premix drinks will be increased from 40sen to 50sen per litre.
He added that the revenue from the tax hike will be used for the treatment of diabetes and other conditions related to the disease.
The number of patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and heart disease was increasing like wildfire, so much so that even public hospitals were running out of wards for them.
Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang director Dr Zulkarnain Mohd Rawi said it was so common these days for people to come in with all kinds of issues related to diabetes, including heart disease.
“This is resulting in the public health sector spending big amounts of money on treatments such as angioplasties and bypass surgery (both to unblock clogged arteries), which are very expensive in private hospitals,” he said.
Because of this, Dr Zulkarnain said he regards the government’s move to increase the tax on premixed sugary drinks as a move towards strengthening preventative medicine.
“Hospitals are conduits for curative medicine, but we need to strengthen preventative medicine so that we can counter the increase in NCDs such as diabetes, which is very debilitating,” he added.
Senior consultant cardiologist Dr Onn Akbar Ali said sugar is the major contributor of metabolic syndrome, which is the cause of the persistent increase in insulin, obesity, elevated uric acid as well as diabetes and hypertension.
He said people must either completely stop or “severely minimise” the consumption of sweetened drinks as well as reduce the consumption of processed food derived from simple carbohydrates as these contain high proportions of sugar and salt.
“People must also reduce their frequency of food intake or adhere to time-restricted eating such as intermittent fasting,” he added.
Dr Onn recommended that the additional funds from the sugar tax increase be used to improve public education on taking care of one’s health at schools and even workplaces.
The Star
Asia News Network
