Diabetes is a is a growing concern for many MEA expats, putting strain on regional health care services, according to the latest research by health benefits and services partner, Aetna International.
The whitepaper titled ‘Diabetes: the world’s weightiest problem’, warns that diabetes growth threatens to overwhelm health care systems despite it being largely preventable and controllable.
An examination of Aetna International’s globally mobile population data shows that the total number of members with diabetes increased by 40% across Europe, Southeast Asia, the Americas and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions between 2014 and 2016. As a percentage of Aetna International’s member population, the membership in the MEA region showed the highest prevalence of diabetes in 2016 (2.58%), followed by the prevalence in the Americas (2.13%), and Europe (1.59% in 2016), and almost treble the prevalence in Southeast Asia (0.79%). Most of this increase has been in type-2 diabetes, which can be attributed to a poor lifestyle and can be prevented through early detection and effective behaviour change.
Aetna International Medical Director Dr. Mitesh Patel explained: “This worrying level of diabetes in expats living in the Middle East and Africa is in part a symptom of an imported Western lifestyle and modern sedentary work “Once expats relocate they can be exposed to increased access to unhealthy fast food and less active ways of working, which may not have been the case in their home country.
“The diabetes burden is getting worse, not better in MEA region — putting growing pressure on health care providers and in turn the health care insurance industry. Ultimately this means increasing health insurance premiums, which no one wants.”
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