Diabetes and its complications have become a major health problem in the region. There are currently over 45 million people with diabetes in the region. More than 95% of these people have type 2 diabetes, which comprises 20% of the current total world prevalence. Presently, India has the largest number of people with diabetes in the world, over 40 million. The sharp rise in the prevalence of diabetes is seen mainly in type 2 diabetes, as the prevalence of type 1 diabetes in the region is 1-2%. However, malnutrition-related diabetes constitutes a significant proportion of people diagnosed with diabetes before the age of thirty. This increase in the young is compounded by the recent increase of type 2 diabetes associated with overweight and obesity in the same age group.
The rise in type 2 diabetes is mostly evident in urban areas where rapid economic development has made people adopt a sedentary lifestyle and consume more refined foods. This leads to greater weight gain. However, rural communities are also experiencing an increase in the numbers of people with diabetes due to the commercialization of villages by market forces.
The reversal of this upward trend will require either the maintenance of or return to typical village habits of high fibre intake, active lifestyle and the maintenance of ideal body weight.
In the light of this increasingly heavy burden, the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka embarked upon an ambitious plan to develop a consensus on the aetiology of type 2 diabetes so that primary prevention could be placed on a scientific footing. This was achieved at an international conference dedicated to this purpose in July 2002, entitled 'Diabetes In Asia' and which took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The meeting was successful in obtaining unanimous consensus. Following this landmark event, all countries in the region are now committed to develop primary prevention strategies applicable to their countries.
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