Chronic diseases ‘top reasons’ for deaths, disabilities in Kuwait The Director of Health Enhancement Department at the Ministry of Health Dr Abeer Al-Bahwa affirmed that high number of cases of chronic diseases have been registered in the State of Kuwait, indicated that such diseases are the top reasons for deaths and early disabilities in the country. She explained that the health indicator of the World Health Organization points out chronic diseases cause 60 percent of deaths worldwide, adding that 76 percent of the deaths in Kuwait in 2010 were due to these diseases. She stressed that doctors generally consider heart diseases as main reason for deaths in Kuwait, followed by cancerous diseases and then traffic accidents.Chronic and non-chronic diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, asthma, hepatitis, neural diseases, strokes and bone diseases (osteoporosis), tuberculosis and chickenpox are also considered the main causes of deaths among the Kuwaiti citizens. Despite the rate differences in statistics, results and studies on the patients suffering from diabetes, several doctors concur to the fact that diabetes is the number one disease among Kuwaiti citizens. Kuwait is ranked third internationally and first among the GCC countries with the highest number of diabetes cases among the citizens. Experts indicated that children in Kuwait suffer from type-two diabetes due to obesity and unhealthy eating habits.According to statistics published by International Diabetes Federation in 2011, 21 percent of the general population of Kuwait suffers from diabetes. Furthermore, about 20 to 30 percent of Kuwaiti citizens suffer from heart diseases due to neural pressure, obesity and smoking habit. Dr Al-Bahwa affirmed that 46 percent of deaths in Kuwait are caused by heart problems while neural diseases including strokes constitute 5.6 percent of deaths. Regarding asthma, 16 percent of the public suffer from it due to sandstorms and rapid weather changes. This rate is considered the highest among children internationally, as the international average rate is between 1 to 2 percent. Bone diseases are also considered among the widespread diseases in Kuwait with a rate of 80 percent for women and 50 percent for men.Diseases such as chickenpox that children contract from schools and tuberculosis that mainly Asian expatriates bring when they arrive in the country are also prevalent among the Kuwaiti citizens. Other diseases include allergies, rheumatism that affects 10 percent of Kuwaiti citizens and skin diseases that affect 8 percent of Kuwaitis. In short, cancerous diseases especially colon and prostate cancers are among the most widespread diseases, followed by high blood pressure, hepatitis, tuberculosis, neuronal diseases and strokes
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 05:27:48 +0000
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