The cost-Effectiveness of Screening to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

According to the World Health Organization, in developing countries, there are about 70 million suffering from the disease (Mohsen “Publications”). Due to lifestyle and socio-economic changes, this disease is not anymore a disease common in developed nations; it has now come to affect Third World and lesser developed nations. In Saudi Arabia, the prevalence of the disease is increasing. In the past two decades, when the nation has entered an era of vast economic improvements, the prevalence of the disease has also increased.

Several studies conducted in different parts of Saudi Arabia yielded alarming results about the figures reflecting growing numbers of diabetes mellitus cases for the nation. In 2004, a study covering about 16000 subjects revealed that 23% of the subjects suffered from diabetes, with men suffering from the disease more than women, and with about 27% of diabetics unaware of the fact that they had diabetes (Al Nozha, et.al. “Articles”). The increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia has impacted greatly on the economy of the country.

The cost of healthcare in the Eastern Mediterranean Region credited to the disease in the year 2003 alone amounted to between 2.8 and 5.2 billion dollars. “The cost of diabetes care refers to the cost element that is attributable to diabetes itself or to the complications of diabetes; it clearly includes the costs of hospital admissions and other healthcare episodes for diabetic ketoacidosis, hypoglycaemia and other direct results of diabetes or its therapy” (International Diabetes Foundation, p. 3). For a developing nation like Saudi Arabia, these costs are an added drag to the nation’s economy.

They add a great burden to the people who can barely afford some of their basic necessities, let alone the cost of hospitalization bills and medications. Many practitioners and healthcare administrators suggest ways and means to