KARACHI: Eminent diabetologist Prof Dr Zaman Shaikh has said that an estimated 82,000 women die of diabetes and its related complications in Pakistan every year and the death ratio in females is higher than males in the country. In a statement issued on Saturday, Prof Zaman Shaikh, while quoting the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), said the number of patients with diabetes in Pakistan was seven million, which would rise to 14.4 million by 2040 if not controlled. “Poor socio-economic conditions in developing countries like Pakistan, women with diabetes experience barriers in accessing cost-effective treatment and care,” he said. “Although prevalence ratio of diabetes is almost equal in women and men but around 82,000 women die of diabetic-related complications in Pakistan each year, while 36,000 men die of diabetes in the country,” he added. Diabetes potentially affects almost every organ in your body and disease silently damages major organs like eye, kidney, foot and others if not controlled properly, he added. “At present, there are 199 million women with diabetes in worldwide and this number will rise to staggering figure of 313 million by the year 2040.” “Approximately 1 in 7 births is affected by gestational diabetes (GDM), a serious threat to maternal and child health. Approximately half of women with a history of GDM go on to develop type-2 diabetes within 5 to 6 years after giving birth,” he explained. Prof Zaman Shaikh said diabetes was the 9th leading cause of death in women worldwide, causing 2.1 million deaths every year. He said at present, 415 million adults were suffering from diabetes and this number would rise to 642 million by the year 2040. He urged the people to modify their lifestyle, change their unhealthy dietary habits, include exercise and exertion in their daily life and take precautionary measures to prevent themselves from type-2 or lifestyle diabetes, which is mother of most of the illnesses. He demanded the authorities concerned to establish primary diabetes care centres throughout the Pakistan for treatment and management of the diabetes at local level. Published in Daily Times, November 12th 2017.