HANOI, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam had nearly 5 million people with diabetes as of 2021, equivalent to about seven percent of the adult population, mainly due to unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity, local media reported on Tuesday.
A survey in 2021 revealed that more than 55 percent of patients with diabetes now have complications, including 34 percent with cardiovascular problems, 39.5 percent sight and neurological complications and 24 percent kidney complications, local newspaper Vietnam News reported.
It is forecast that the number of diabetes cases in Vietnam and the whole world will continue to increase rapidly in the coming years, the newspaper cited Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Lien Huong as reporting.
Experts said that the high consumption of fast food, carbonated drinks and sugar, and limited exercise are among the causes of diabetes in Vietnam.
A nationwide survey reported that the rate of diabetes among people aged 30-69 increased from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 7.3 percent in 2020, the newspaper said.
