As few as 37% of around five million diabetes patients in Vietnam was diagnosed with the disease, said Nguyen Thi Xuyen, vice minister of Health at a workshop in Hanoi on May 29. The number of the number of patients diagnosed with diabetes has increased by 211% over the last 10 years (from 2002 to 2012). In every 10 cases with diabetes in Vietnam, six were diagnosed with complications. “Many patients and their families as well as health care centers are suffering from the economic burden in dealing with this costly disease,” Mrs. Xuyen said at the workshop. The workshop is under the framework of the Vietnam Diabetes Care Program, a co-collaboration between the Ministry of Health and the Danish company of Novo Nordisk Vietnam since 2013. Health officials explained that the ageing population, urbanization and the lifestyle change were the reasons for the increase in diabetes incidence in Vietnam and the world. Vietnam was in the low- to middle-income group of countries, which are heavily affected by diabetes. Diabetes rate was around 7% in large cities such as Hanoi or HCM City compared to the country’s common rate of 5.7%. (Vietnam News May 30 p3)
