Prevalence of Diabetes among Men and Women in China - Essay Example

Running Head: Prevalence of Diabetes among Men and Women in China Prevalence of Diabetes among Men and Women in China [Institute’s Name] Introduction - Aims & Objectives Diabetes is a chronic disease that leads to other cardiovascular diseases and increases risks of heart attack, kidney problems, stroke and the like (French & Crabbe, 2010, p. 187). China has become a country with the highest number of Diabetes sufferers. There are various reasons to it and urbanisation is its primary reason. USA also has a large population of people suffering from Diabetes, but China leads because of it being the most populous country in the world. This ever increasing number of diabetes sufferers is becoming a reason for increasing deaths in the country caused due to cardiovascular diseases. It is important that the government and other authorities in China take steps to deal with this new epidemic as this disease has serious economic repercussions in the country. However, it is very challenging to administer such a campaign to a population that is over a billion. Target Reader The paper is directed at the policy makers, the health ministry and NGOs working for the betterment of health in China, so that they devise strategies and methods in order to deal with this epidemic. This paper is also directed at the general public in order to raise awareness among the people about the severity of the issue, so that they cooperate with the policy makers in the implementation of the strategies designed. Prevalence and Risks of Diabetes in China Diabetes is increasing at a rapid pace in among people who are 20 years of age or more in China; so much so that it is twice the number as compared to the reports released earlier about the count of diabetes sufferers in China. China’s estimate of Diabetes is 9.7% which is just one percent less than United States’ estimate (Hornby, 2012). According to an estimate, diabetes in China has become so widespread now that some 92 million adults are suffering from it (Joelving, 2010). Besides, the shocking thing is that the disease is undiagnosed in 60% of those 92 million adults. Moreover, some whopping 148 million adults have pre-diabetes i.e. they have some symptoms of having diabetes and would get it if not cared properly. Since China is the most populous country in the world; therefore, its 9.7% diabetes sufferers make china number one in total diabetes population, followed by India and USA; with 50 million and 23.6 million patients, respectively. Studies done on diabetes in China have found out that people living in urban areas are found to have diabetes more than people living in rural areas. This is because people living in rural areas still eat traditional Chinese food which is close to healthy diet. On the other hand, people living in urban areas are more prone to the disease because of changed diet and lifestyle. This is why every 1 out of 5 Chinese living in urban areas is obese and obesity is one of the leading causes of diabetes (World Diabetes Foundation, 2003). Lifestyle change not only signifies a change in eating habits and diet, but it also signifies less physical activity which is leading people to put on weight. Another factor that the study revealed as significant in the prevalence of diabetes is education. It has been found out that an increase in education level is linked with a decrease in prevalence of diabetes (Yang, et al., 2010). Diabetes leads to cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancers. Therefore, it is seen that cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death in China. In general, diabetes is becoming a reason for premature deaths in the country that, in turn, is increasing economic burden in the country. Therefore, it is important that government designs nationwide strategies that focus on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease. Consequences of the NCD (non-communicable disease) Non communicable diseases broadly include “cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancers” (Jing, 2010, p. 3). Major causes of these diseases are determined as unhealthy diets, tobacco use, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol. The problem that is mostly associated with China is urbanization. It is seen that people living in urban areas are more prone to Diabetes than people living in rural areas. This is because of their changed lifestyle, and their changed eating habits along with physical inactivity. This all is associated with rapid economic growth that is seen in China lately. About 79% of the adult mortality in China today is due to these non-communicable diseases; therefore, it is immensely important that the government and other accountable authorities take measures in order to reduce this epidemic so that the adult mortality rate can be controlled to a large extent (Jing, 2010, p. 3). Strategies to Improve Considering the widespread prevalence of diabetes in China, it is important that the government takes measure in order to deal with this issue. First strategy that is needed is increased awareness. Awareness equals to half problem solved. This is because if people are aware then they would take corrective measures needed individually in order to reduce diabetes. This strategy can be implemented by running public awareness messages on TV and by playing them on Radio. Moreover, it should be placed on health ministry’s website and a widespread campaign should be designed in order to bring about this awareness. Furthermore, public awareness programs can be done on national TV for the purpose and the like. This campaign should target all the causes that lead to diabetes including physical inactivity, eating habits, urbanization, alcohol consumption and the like. This campaign should initiate TV programs focusing on the need for exercising and taking a proper healthy diet. Other strategies that can prove helpful include free diabetes treatment of people who are diagnosed with it. Moreover, incentivising people with pre-diabetes for doing corrective measures can also help greatly. Efforts initiated by the ministry of health include the national diabetes program that has been running since 2003. This program runs in collaboration with the World Diabetes Foundation and aims at solving the problem of diabetes by prevention, diagnosis and treatment (Changing Diabetes in China, 2011). The approach of this program (n.d, 2010) to solve diabetes is three fold. First phase of the program aims at developing national diabetes prevention and treatment guideline, second phase is establishing diabetes management systems at hospitals and third phase is to transfer those diabetes management systems to community levels (World Diabetes Foundation, 2003). One of the drawbacks of the program is that it has not been able to transfer the same level of care that is provided at hospitals to the community level. This is why when people go to hospitals for treatment; they do not want to come to the community centres because of the difference in treatment procedures. Another drawback of this program is inability of hospitals to send the patients or refer them to community level clinics as they don’t want to lose their income. This problem can be solved by incentivising the hospitals and by improving the quality of care and facilities available at the community level (World Diabetes Foundation, 2003). This program proved very effective in preventing people with pre-diabetes i.e. 90% of the pre-diabetic patients were prone to develop diabetes, but only 73% of such people developed diabetes due to diabetes prevention training. Moreover, those 73% people developed diabetes six to seven years later than they would have developed if no training was given. This proves that training the individuals about the harms of diabetes and its causes can lead to prevent it in the long run (World Diabetes Foundation, 2003). Recommended Strategies and Conclusion No one can deny about China’s continued economic growth; however, this constant growth has brought some serious repercussions to the country. In other words, this economic growth in China has brought massive urbanization and has led people to change their lifestyles (Pan, Xiao-Ren; Yang, Wen-Ying; Li, Guan-Wei; Liu, Juan; National Diabetes Prevention and Control Cooperative Group, 1997). Change in lifestyle includes change in eating habits and a reduction in physical activity (Campbell & Campbell, 2006, p. 13). As a result, obesity has taken up the nation by storm, which in turn has given its way to diseases like diabetes (n.d, 2010). Today, diabetes has become immensely widespread in China making it the country with the highest number of diabetic people living. This number is followed by India and U.S.A. Diabetes, in turn, has severe health related consequences including chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, kidney related disorders and the like (Marso & Stern, 2004, p. 153). Furthermore, cardiovascular diseases are number one cause of deaths in the country; therefore, it is needy that the government increases its efforts aiming at dealing with diabetes in order to reduce the economic burden caused by it. National Diabetes Program should be further enhanced and clinics at the community level should be improved for high quality health care. Additionally, hospitals should be given enough incentives so that they don’t feel reluctant referring the patients to the community level. Lastly, more efforts should be taken to prevent diabetes by a massive awareness campaign. This campaign should include TV programs, talk shows, Radio and TV health messages and the like. References Campbell, T. C., & Campbell, T. M. 2006. The China Study. New York: BenBella Books. Changing Diabetes in China. 2011. The Blueprint for Change Programme, pp. 1-15. n.d. 2010. “China faces diabetes epidemic, research suggests.” BBC News. Retrieved on May 26, 2012: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8587032.stm French, P., & Crabbe, M. 2010. Fat China. Athens: Anthem Press. Hornby, L. 2012. China diabetics raise stakes for healthcare reform. London: Reuters. Jing, N. 2010. Non-Communicable Diseases. London: Springer. Joelving, F. 2010. More Reuters Results for. London: Reuters. Marso, S., & Stern, D. 2004. Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Neithercott, T. 2010. “Diabetes Rates Rising in China.” Diabetes Forecast. Pan, Xiao-Ren; Yang, Wen-Ying; Li, Guan-Wei; Liu, Juan; National Diabetes Prevention and Control Cooperative Group. 1997. “Prevalence of Diabetes and Its Risk Factors in China, 1994.” Diabetes Care. World Diabetes Foundation. 2003. China continues to create access to care. 2003. Retrieved on May 26, 2012: http://www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org/composite-1925.htm Yang, W., Lu, J., Weng, J., Jia, W., Ji, L., Xiao, J., et al. 2010. “Prevalence of Diabetes among Men and Women in China.” The New England Journal of Medicine. Read More