Diabetes Fiji has revealed that over one thousand seven hundred Fijians diagnosed with diabetes die annually.
Chair Taabish Akbar says diabetes is now a number one killer disease with more young people falling victim to it.
“Those in their 20 and 30’s who are dying and being amputated so it is a major burden on our health system. 60% of patients coming to health centers and hospitals are diabetics while 40% of our surgeries are related to diabetes and these are indeed alarming figures”
Akbar says for a country that is renowned for its sporting skills, it is shocking that Fiji is the most vulnerable to a disease which is related to bad eating habits.
He adds the government is pouring close to fifty percent of its previous health budget allocations into treating those diagnosed with this killer disease.
Meanwhile, the organization says the accuracy of a recent World Health Rankings whereby, Fiji tops the list for the highest diabetes-related deaths is debatable.
However, the rate of those diagnosed with diabetes annual remains a serious problem for the country.
