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Rising diabetes rates are a concern, says deputy health minister

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Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla expressed concern over the rapid rise in diabetes cases in South Africa, particularly among women. Alarming rise in diabetes-related deaths According to Dr Phaahla, diabetes mellitus is the leading underlying cause of female deaths at 8.2%. In 2018, the figure stood at 7.7%. “The rate at which diabetes is growing in our country is concerning.”Deputy Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla Phaahla addressed the concern around the increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) during a roundtable discussion on the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI). What are NCDs? NCDs, also called lifestyle diseases, refer to diseases that are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioural factors. According to The World Health Organization, the main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. Changeable behaviours, such as smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol, all increase the risk of NCDs. Steps taken by government ‘We must recognise the gravity of this burden which is deeply interconnected with factors such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, smoking and social and commercial determinants of health,’ Phaahla told delegates. According to Phaahla, the Department of Health’s focus is two-fold – prevention and early detection. In preventing diseases such as diabetes, the Department has implemented campaigns aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles. It has rolled out screening campaigns through community health workers and traditional health practitioners to target the early detection of hypertension and diabetes. The Department also aims at addressing the major issues of affordability and accessibility to fight the increase in diabetes. How bad is the situation in South Africa? The University of Witwatersrand published a report at the end of last year that stated that diabetes is the second leading cause of death in South Africa after tuberculosis. NCDs cause approximately 70% of deaths globally. Of these deaths, around 85% occur in low and middle-income countries. In South Africa, there was an increase of 58% in deaths from NCDs from 1997 to 2018. Most South Africans with diabetes are either diagnosed very late or are not diagnosed at all. Untreated or badly controlled diabetes can result in amputations, kidney failure and blindness. Many of these individuals also have high blood pressure. This often results in a stroke as a result of brain haemorrhage. The post Rising diabetes rates are a concern, says deputy health minister appeared first on SA People.

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla voiced concern over the growing number of diabetes cases in South Africa, particularly among women. The post Rising diabetes rates are a concern, says deputy health minister appeared first on SA People.

Deputy Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaahla expressed concern over the rapid rise in diabetes cases in South Africa, particularly among women.

Alarming rise in diabetes-related deaths

According to Dr Phaahla, diabetes mellitus is the leading underlying cause of female deaths at 8.2%. In 2018, the figure stood at 7.7%.

“The rate at which diabetes is growing in our country is concerning.”
Deputy Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla

Phaahla addressed the concern around the increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) during a roundtable discussion on the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI).

What are NCDs?

NCDs, also called lifestyle diseases, refer to diseases that are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioural factors.

According to The World Health Organization, the main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

Changeable behaviours, such as smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol, all increase the risk of NCDs.

Steps taken by government

‘We must recognise the gravity of this burden which is deeply interconnected with factors such as unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, smoking and social and commercial determinants of health,’ Phaahla told delegates.

According to Phaahla, the Department of Health’s focus is two-fold – prevention and early detection.

In preventing diseases such as diabetes, the Department has implemented campaigns aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles. It has rolled out screening campaigns through community health workers and traditional health practitioners to target the early detection of hypertension and diabetes.

The Department also aims at addressing the major issues of affordability and accessibility to fight the increase in diabetes.

How bad is the situation in South Africa?

The University of Witwatersrand published a report at the end of last year that stated that diabetes is the second leading cause of death in South Africa after tuberculosis.

NCDs cause approximately 70% of deaths globally. Of these deaths, around 85% occur in low and middle-income countries. In South Africa, there was an increase of 58% in deaths from NCDs from 1997 to 2018.

Most South Africans with diabetes are either diagnosed very late or are not diagnosed at all.

Untreated or badly controlled diabetes can result in amputations, kidney failure and blindness. Many of these individuals also have high blood pressure. This often results in a stroke as a result of brain haemorrhage.

The post Rising diabetes rates are a concern, says deputy health minister appeared first on SA People.

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Eating less sugar would be great for the planet as well as our health

"Globally, sugar intake has quadrupled over the last 60 years . . ."

Sugar addiction is on the rise. Globally, sugar intake has quadrupled over the last 60 years, and it now makes up around 8% of all our calories. This sounds like sugar's keeping us fed, but added sugars are actually empty calories – they are bereft of any nutrients like vitamins or fibers. The result is massive health costs, with sugars linked to obesity around the world. Some estimates suggest that half the global population could be obese by 2035. A limited 20% reduction in sugar is estimated to save US$10.3 billion (£8.1 billion) of health costs in the US alone. Yet, sugar's impacts go far beyond just health and money. There are also many environmental problems from growing the sugar, like habitat and biodiversity loss and water pollution from fertilizers and mills. But overall, sugar hasn't received a lot of attention from the scientific community despite being the largest cultivated crop by mass on the planet. In a recent article, we evaluated sugar's environmental impacts and explored avenues for reducing sugar in the diet to recommended levels either through reducing production or using the saved sugar in environmentally beneficial ways. By phasing out sugar, we could spare land that could be rewilded and stock up on carbon. This is especially important in biodiverse tropical regions where sugar production is concentrated such as Brazil and India. But a different, more politically palatable option might be redirecting sugar away from diets to other environmentally-beneficial uses such as bioplastics or biofuels. Our study shows that the biggest opportunity is using sugar to feed microbes that make protein. Using saved sugar for this microbial protein could produce enough plant-based, protein-rich food products to regularly feed 521 million people. And if this replaced animal protein it could also have huge emission and water benefits. We estimate that if this protein replaced chicken, it could reduce emissions by almost 250 million tons, and we'd see even bigger savings for replacing beef (for reference, the UK's national fossil fuel emissions are around 300 million tons). Given sugar has a far lower climate impact than meat, this makes a lot of sense. Another alternative is to use the redirected sugar to produce bioplastics, which would replace around 20% of the total market for polyethelyne, one of the most common forms of plastic and used to produce anything from packaging to pipes. Or to produce biofuels, producing around 198 million barrels of ethanol for transportation. Brazil already produces around 85% of the world's ethanol and they produce it from sugar, but instead of having to grow more sugar for ethanol we could redirect the sugar from diets instead. This estimation is based on a world where we reduce dietary sugar to the maximum in dietary recommendations (5% of daily calories). The benefits would be even larger if we reduced sugar consumption even further. Supply chain challenges This sounds like a big win-win: cut sugar to reduce obesity and help the environment. But these changes present a huge challenge in a sugar supply chain spanning more than 100 countries and the millions of people that depend on sugar's income. National policies like sugar taxes are vital, but having international coordination is also important in such a sprawling supply chain. Sustainable agriculture is being discussed at the UN's climate summit, Cop29, in Azerbaijan this week. Sustainable sugar production should factor into these global talks given the many environmental problems and opportunities from changing the way we grow and consume sugar. We also suggest that groups of countries could come together in sugar transition partnerships between producers and consumers that encourage a diversion of sugar away from peoples' diets to more beneficial uses. This could be coordinated by the World Health Organization which has called for a reduction in sugar consumption. Some of the money to fund these efforts could even come from part of the health savings in national budgets. We can't hope to transition the way we produce and eat sugar overnight. But by exploring other uses of sugar, we can highlight what environmental benefits we are missing out on and help policymakers map a resource-efficient path forward to the industry while improving public health.   Don't have time to read about climate change as much as you'd like? Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation's environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who've subscribed so far. Paul Behrens, British Academy Global Professor, Future of Food, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford and Alon Shepon, Principal Investigator, Department of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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CDC warns cruise passengers of hot tub disease outbreak

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CDC issues warning of hot tub-caused Legionnaires’ Disease The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a health warning following an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease among passengers who had been on cruises.  As reported by Travel News, the CDC found that a number of cases of Legionnaires’ Disease were connected by an unnamed cruise ship, between November 2022 and April 2024 of this year. Private outdoor hot tubs on the balconies of two cruise ships were pinpointed as the source of the bacteria for multiple infections between the period, as stated in a report last month from the CDC. “Epidemiologic, environmental and laboratory evidence suggests that private balcony hot tubs were the likely source of exposure in two outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease among cruise ship passengers,” the CDC said in the report.   “These devices are subject to less stringent operating requirements than public hot tubs, and operating protocols were insufficient to prevent Legionella growth.” they added. What is Legionnaires’ Disease? According to Cleveland Clinic: “Legionnaires’ disease is a serious type of pneumonia you get when Legionella bacteria infect your lungs. Symptoms include high fever, cough, diarrhea and confusion. You can get Legionnaires’ disease from water or cooling systems in large buildings, like hospitals or hotels.” Legionella is found naturally in lakes, streams and soil, but it can also contaminate drinking water and air systems, especially in large buildings. You can breathe small droplets of water directly into your lungs, or water in your mouth can get into your lungs accidentally You also have an increased risk of getting Legionnaires’ disease if you: Are older than 50. Smoke or used to smoke cigarettes. Have a weakened immune system. Certain medical conditions (like HIV, diabetes, cancer and kidney or liver disease) and medications can compromise your immune system. Have a long-term respiratory illness, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema. Live in a long-term care facility. Have stayed in a hospital recently. Have had surgery requiring anesthesia recently. Have received an organ transplant recently. The post CDC warns cruise passengers of hot tub disease outbreak appeared first on SA People.

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TCEQ to hold public permit renewal meeting for Houston concrete plant with past compliance issues

The Torres Brothers Ready Mix plant has “a history of violations,” according to the Harris County Attorney’s Office. Air Alliance Houston is urging community members to attend the Monday night meeting.

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Standing Desks Are Better for Your Health—but Still Not Enough

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