Lanka marks World Diabetes Day 2024, urges urgent action on diabetes crisis

Sri Lanka is facing a significant public health challenge, as diabetes continues to rise at an alarming rate. Dr. P.G. Mahipala, Secretary of the Ministry of Health, emphasized the urgency of addressing the diabetes epidemic in his speech at the inaugural session of the Regional Commemoration of World Diabetes Day 2024 on Thursday.

“Diabetes is not just a medical condition. It is a social challenge,” Dr. Mahipala said. “It requires us to break barriers of inequity, ignorance, and inaction while building bridges of understanding, access, and collaboration.”

Dr. Mahipala highlighted the global scale of the issue, stating that over 422 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes, with 1.5 million lives lost annually due to complications from the disease. He also pointed out that South Asia alone has over 96 million people living with diabetes, many of whom lack access to essential healthcare and treatment.

The two-day event, held at the Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo, gathered over 100 experts and officials from various regions, including South-East Asia, the Western Pacific, and Africa. The conference, themed “Breaking Barriers, Bridging Gaps,” focused on raising awareness and promoting solutions to address the growing diabetes crisis.

Dr. Guy Fones, Director of Noncommunicable Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO), addressed the session, noting that chronic underinvestment in health services has created a significant gap between the need for effective prevention and the availability of quality care. “To close this gap, health systems must be reoriented towards primary health care as a foundation for universal health coverage and health security,” Dr. Fones said.

The event also featured online addresses from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr. Saima Wazed, WHO Director for the Southeastern Region. Dr. Alaka Singh, WHO Country Representative, Dr. Samindi Samarkoon, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health, along with numerous doctors and provincial health directors, were present at the session.