Having participated in the Saudi Symposium on Chronic Diseases and the First Meeting of the Specialized Health Societies, which has been organized by the Ministry of Health, Dr. Khalid Al-Rubaian, the Manager of the Diabetes Center at King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, congratulated Dr. Khalid Marghalani, the General Supervisor of Information and Health Education, on the success of the symposium and accompanying expo.
Dr. Al-Rubaian, who offered a lecture at the symposium under the title "Diabetes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", expressed in his congratulation letter to Dr. Al-Marghalani his gratitude for the care paid to chronic diseases by the Ministry of Health, depicting those diseases as the real health threat confronting the Kingdom.
In his lecture in the symposium Dr. Al-Rubaian stated that diabetes is the most prevalent and most life threatening disease in the kingdom. "It is the most fatal and expensive disease among chronic diseases", he said. "The prevalence rate of Type 2 diabetes is 27%, whereas its prevalence rate among the diabetes community is about 75%, the hereditary factor being the most causative factor of the disease. Nutrition change is also an important factor, since during the last twenty years oil and fat components have shown great increases in the Saudi diet at the expense of starches and proteins".
He said neuropathy and retinopathy as well as nephropathy and arteriopathy are the main complications of diabetes.
As for the treatment costs of the total nephropathy accompanying diabetes, Dr. Al-Rubaian said the annual report of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplanting for the year 2000 showed that the number of patients has been 2875, whereas the annual cost of kidney washing per patient has been SR98,500, the total cost being SR283,187,500.
The direct annual cost of type one diabetes per patient according to Dr. Al-Rbubaian is 8,328, the total cost being SR1,248,600,000, whereas the annual cost of type two diabetes is 3,433, the total cost being SR4,634,550,000.