It is estimated that approximately 500,000 people in Hanoi have diabetes and 1.5 million have pre-diabetes. In 2023, the Health Insurance Fund spent about 1 trillion VND on treating this disease for the people of Hanoi.
 |
| The Health Insurance Fund spends 1 trillion VND on diabetes treatment for people in Hanoi. (Illustrative image: Newssteppodiatry) |
This information was shared by Dr. Nguyen Dinh Hung, Deputy Director in charge of the Hanoi Department of Health , at the 10th Hanoi Expanded Conference on Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome, on November 16th.
Mr. Hung stated that in 2023, the Health Insurance Fund's expenditure on diabetes treatment in Hanoi accounted for 5% of total spending, equivalent to 1,000 billion VND.
"The data on health insurance is just the 'tip of the iceberg'; many diabetes patients have to buy additional medication outside of the healthcare system," Mr. Hung said.
Also at the conference, Associate Professor Dr. Do Trung Quan, Chairman of the Hanoi Endocrinology and Diabetes Association, updated the information that there are currently more than half a billion people worldwide suffering from diabetes.
"This is the fastest-growing disease of the 21st century," Dr. Quan shared. In Vietnam, it is estimated that around 6 million people suffer from this disease. Significantly, 50% of them are unaware they have the disease, and have not been diagnosed, managed, or treated. This poses a major challenge for Vietnamese healthcare in general and Hanoi's healthcare system in particular."
More specifically, this 50% includes people at risk of developing diabetes such as those who are overweight or obese; have a family history of the disease; have a history of gestational diabetes; have a history of hypertension, dyslipidemia, gout, or have given birth to a baby weighing over 3.5 kg...
According to Associate Professor Quan, in the latest treatment guidelines, cardiovascular and renal complications are considered dangerous, posing the highest risk of death. Diabetic patients have a five times higher risk of heart failure compared to non-diabetic individuals. Half of them are at risk of dying within five years. Besides cardiovascular and renal complications, blindness, foot deformities, nerve damage, etc., a complication that both men and women with diabetes can experience is hypogonadism, affecting family happiness.
In particular, the phenomenon of diabetes affecting younger people is very serious. Many children as young as 13-15 years old have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, people with diabetes are very confused by the numerous advertisements on the Internet and social media promising "a single treatment to completely cure the disease." This leads many patients to abandon their medication and treatment regimens, thereby increasing the risk of complications and even death.
"To date, diabetes associations worldwide have confirmed that there is no cure for this disease," Associate Professor Quan said. However, while diabetes cannot be cured, people can prevent and manage complications, and live completely healthy lives.
Source
Comment (0)