BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Diabetes is the third highest cause of deaths in Brunei since 2012. The latest statistical figures revealed that diabetes caused 10.1 percent of deaths in the country in 2017, said Brunei's Health Minister Mohammad Isham in his message to commemorate the World Diabetes Day on Thursday.
The minister also said the National Health and Nutritional Status Survey in 2011 reported that as many as 12.4 percent of the population in Brunei were diabetic. Meanwhile, another population survey of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Risk Factors in Brunei indicated that 9.7 percent of Brunei citizens have high blood sugar level.
"What we should know is that diabetes can also cause other non-communicable diseases such as kidney failure and heart disease," Isham warned.
He said diabetes is the main cause of kidney failure, where patients need dialysis treatments. In Brunei, it is estimated that 800 patients who are undergoing renal replacement therapy need hemodialysis.
Coronary heart disease is the country's second-highest killer, where the majority of them were caused by diabetes.
