Access to diabetes education seen as key to fighting Arab world’s invisible enemy

In recent years, cases of Type 2 diabetes have skyrocketed in specific regions, including the Middle East and North Africa. (Shutterstock)
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Updated 22 November 2022
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Access to diabetes education seen as key to fighting Arab world’s invisible enemy

  • Poor diet and sedentary lifestyles blamed for rising cases across the world over the past decade
  • Gulf states now rank among the world’s top nations with the highest prevalence of Type 2 diabetes

DUBAI: Controlling the sweet tooth is not the only lifestyle choice that will determine whether or not an individual will develop diabetes in the course of their lifetime. The chronic disease, which has seen an alarming rise in cases across the world over the past decade, has been linked to sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets and obesity.

Inadequate knowledge about the prevention and management of the condition in many countries led the International Diabetes Federation to make “access to diabetes education” the theme of World Diabetes Day for the third consecutive year.

Every year, campaigns are launched around the world on Nov. 14 to help raise awareness about the disease, which, as of 2021, affected 537 million adults between the ages of 20 and 79 worldwide.




“Access to diabetes education” is the theme of World Diabetes Day. (Shutterstock)

In recent years, cases of Type 2 diabetes have skyrocketed in specific regions, including the Middle East and North Africa — particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council area. Countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain now rank among the top 10 nations with the highest prevalence of Type 2 diabetes.

In the UAE, as many as one in five people have diabetes, with Type 2 being the most common form, according to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. This number is expected to double by 2040.

In response to this seemingly inexorable increase in cases, health experts are examining everything from lifestyle trends to technological advancements and healthcare systems to determine what can be done to slow the spread and identify how much is down to genetics.

According to Dr. Sara Suliman, consultant endocrinologist and diabetologist at the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi, variables such as urbanization, changing climate, mobility and food availability influence rates of diabetes in different areas.

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“The GCC, being one of the richer areas in the world, has seen far more use of cars, far more easy access to food, including high-calorie food, and is one of the leading areas in the world as far as an increase in diabetes cases is concerned,” she told Arab News.

The situation is just as worrying in other countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Data from 2021 shows that 73 million adults (aged 20-79) across the MENA region are living with diabetes — a figure that is estimated to grow to 95 million by 2030 and 136 million by 2045.

“Until very recently, we were hanging a lot of things on genes. We do know if one parent has diabetes (Type 2), then there is a 40 percent chance of an individual getting diabetes, and that if two parents have diabetes, then there is an 80 percent chance of the individual becoming affected,” said Suliman.

In fact, not only is Type 2 diabetes preventable, it can also be reversed through a complete change in lifestyle. Unfortunately, this is not the case for Type 1.

With genetics accounting for only 5-10 percent of cases, Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction, which leads the body to attack itself, destroying the cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin.




Dr. Sara Suliman. (Supplied)

“For Type 1 diabetes, the treatment is insulin and will always be insulin. But with Type 2, we have different options,” said Suliman.

It is no secret that excessive consumption of fizzy drinks, energy shots, sweetened juices and processed junk foods tops the list of diets that result in high blood sugar levels (or blood glucose levels).

An unhealthy diet coupled with a lack of regular exercise, fewer than seven hours of sleep per night and poor hydration significantly increases the risk of obesity as well as type 2 diabetes, said Suliman.

“Obesity is another major problem in the Gulf countries,” she said. “For example, 50 percent of children in Kuwait are at the moment either overweight or obese.”

FASTFACTS

* 537m Adults living with diabetes in 2021, predicted to rise to 643m by 2030, 783m by 2045.

* 3/4 Proportion of adults with diabetes who live in low- and middle-income countries.

* 6.7m Number of deaths caused by diabetes in 2021 ​​— 1 every 5 seconds.

Source: International Diabetes Federation

Studies predict that at least 10 countries in the MENA region will have more than a million children suffering from obesity by 2030.

Looking at the problem through a different lens, Dr. Ihsan Al-Marzooqi, co-founder and managing director of Glucare Health, says although bad habits significantly impact rates of diabetes, there is another side to the story.

“While it is easy to blame patients for their lifestyle choices, the reason we see this growth is because, over the past 40 years, healthcare providers have not changed their model of care to tackle the root cause of the disease,” he told Arab News.

“Despite all the advances we have seen in healthcare, the system still treats patients episodically — a quick 15 minutes with your doctor every quarter — with a strong emphasis on prescription medications.”

Describing diabetes as “fundamentally a behavioral problem,” Al-Marzooqi highlighted the need for healthcare providers to focus on innovating care models that provide a more consistent follow-up approach that emphasizes changes in behavior.




“The system still treats patients episodically — a quick 15 minutes with your doctor every quarter — with a strong emphasis on prescription medications,” said Dr. Ihsan Al-Marzooqi. (Supplied)

To achieve this, providers need to consistently record new sets of personal data for each patient, a practice Al-Marzooqi says has not yet evolved in MENA countries.

Critiquing current care models, he says patients have little knowledge about the effect of their actions on their health, adding that this has resulted in a large number of poorly controlled diabetics in the GCC.

“We believe that most patients simply do not have agency over their own health, as in they cannot contextualize the extent of how their lifestyle choices can ultimately affect their diabetes outcome,” he said.

At the same time, “providers will always advise their patients on lifestyle modification, but none will actually track the advice they give.”

According to Al-Marzooqi, the outcome is evident in the data collected, which indicates that almost 75 percent of managed diabetics in the GCC with access to care are classified as “poorly controlled.”

Highlighting predictions of a regionwide “tsunami” of healthcare bills as a result of the situation, he says diabetes need not be a costly disease to manage.




Historically, diabetes patients had no choice but to prick their finger several times a day to monitor their blood sugar. (Shutterstock)

“The complications from poorly controlled diabetes are what lead to almost a quarter of healthcare budgets being spent on diabetes,” he said.

To end this cycle, Al-Marzooqi says governments should incentivize healthcare providers by rewarding them for clinical outcomes as opposed to the current fee-for-service models.

If a value-based reimbursement model is put into practice, he argues, providers who innovate and invest in new modalities, such as digital therapeutics, will end up with a better engaged and better managed population. This, in turn, could reduce future complications, thereby reducing the overall cost.

On the upside, Gulf governments have been making efforts to raise awareness about the disease. Early education and training on managing the condition and promoting healthy lifestyles are now widespread at schools and universities in the region, says Suliman.

Some governments have got municipalities to set up public walkways and running tracks and outdoor gyms and ministries to launch nationwide fitness campaigns to encourage people to get active.

Another example of state intervention is the sugar tax in the UAE, announced in 2019, which applies a 50 percent tax on all sugar-sweetened beverages.

From a technological standpoint, treating diabetes has also come a long way, says Suliman. Historically, diabetes patients had no choice but to prick their finger several times a day to monitor their blood sugar and self-inject insulin when needed.

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“We are now spoiled for choice,” she said. Significant progress has been made in the development of glucose sensors and insulin pumps. These devices allow patients to keep track of their sugar levels with live updates on their mobile phones.

Additionally, patients who are in need of insulin on a daily basis have the choice of installing a sensor and pump device that can take care of tracking and applying the right dosage needed to avoid the traditional method of injection.

“There are signs that we can at least flatten the curve,” said Suliman, who believes the younger generation is more conscious of better lifestyle choices.

“The problem is, the rise in diabetes cases has been so steep as to be scary, and if the pessimistic forecasts come true, it would be even scarier.”

She added: “We all have to move in the same direction.”


Iran set to show off captured Israeli F-35 pilots

Updated 9 sec ago
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Iran set to show off captured Israeli F-35 pilots

RIYADH: Iran is set to present images of captured Israeli F-35 pilots “soon,” according to the Tehran Times.
The Iranians on Friday said they had captured two Israeli fighter jet pilots, one of them a woman.
The Israelis have not confirm they had lost any of its pilots after carrying out a surprise attack on Iran on Friday morning. 
The two countries militaries have been engaged in missile and drone attacks since then, prompting fears the confrontation could spiral out of control and lead to a major regional conflict.


What Israel’s bombing of Iran’s state broadcaster says about its targeting of journalists

Updated 16 min 53 sec ago
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What Israel’s bombing of Iran’s state broadcaster says about its targeting of journalists

  • Israeli forces struck Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB on Monday, killing two staff and injuring others during a live broadcast
  • Press freedom advocates say the Tehran strike echoes Israel’s pattern of targeting media in Gaza and the West Bank

LONDON: In what press freedom groups say is only the latest in a string of attacks on media workers, the Israeli military on Monday struck the headquarters of the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting network in Tehran.

The attack, which interrupted a live broadcast, killed at least two members of staff  — news editor Nima Rajabpour and secretariat worker Masoumeh Azimi — and injured several others, according to state-affiliated media.

In footage widely shared online, Sahar Emami, an anchor for the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, was seen fleeing the studio as the screen behind her filled with smoke. Moments earlier, she had told viewers: “You hear the sound of the aggressor attacking the truth.”

The strike destroyed the building — known as the Glass Building — which burned through the night. Israel immediately claimed responsibility.

Defense Minister Israel Katz had issued a warning less than an hour earlier, calling IRIB a “propaganda and incitement megaphone,” urging up to 330,000 nearby residents to evacuate.

The attack drew swift condemnation from Iranian officials. Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, called it “a wicked act of war crime,” urging the international community to demand justice from Israel for its attack on the media.

NUMBER

70%

Israel is responsible for the majority of journalist killings globally in 2024, the highest number by a single country in one year since the Committee to Protect Journalists began documenting this data in 1992.

Source: CPJ

“The world is watching,” Baqaei wrote on X. “Israeli regime is the biggest enemy of truth and is the No#1 killer of journalists and media people.”

Over the past week, the long-running shadow war between Israel and Iran has escalated dramatically. On Friday, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities, including the Natanz enrichment site.

With the stated aim of preventing Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, the strikes caused significant damage to the country’s nuclear infrastructure and military command structure, with multiple high-ranking commanders killed.

Mourners attend the funeral of members of the press who were killed in an Israeli strike, at the Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, on December 26, 2024. (AFP)

Iran has retaliated with missile barrages targeting Israeli cities and military bases. Civilian casualties have mounted on both sides, and major cities like Tehran and Tel Aviv have experienced widespread panic and disruption.

The Israeli attack on IRIB shows media workers are not exempt from the violence.

Sara Qudah, regional director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said she was “appalled by Israel’s attack on Iran’s state television channel,” noting that the lack of international censure “has emboldened it to target media elsewhere in the region.”

There is absolutely no logical reason for Israel to target a media outlet in Iran that poses no threat to anyone, says Peyman Jebelli, Head of IRIB

Loreley Hahn Herrera, lecturer in global media and digital cultures at SOAS University of London, echoed this view.

“The exceptional status through which Western powers have historically shielded Israel has allowed it to systematically commit international law and human rights violations without ever being held accountable or suffer any legal, financial, military or diplomatic repercussions,” she told Arab News.

“This has indeed emboldened Israel to attack not only Palestine and Iran. In the last months, Israel has broken the ceasefire in Lebanon, bombed Yemen, and Syria as well.”

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Al-Zaanin waits at Nasser hospital for treatment after sustaining injuries during Israeli bombardment of the Bani Suheila district in Khan Yunis in the  southern Gaza Strip on July 22, 2024. (AFP)

Israel’s treatment of media workers in combat zones has long been documented by press freedom organizations. Despite repeated calls for accountability, Israel has consistently evaded consequences.

“Israel has a sophisticated political communication strategy which rests on its hasbara (propaganda) that has worked hand in hand with its material strategies to control the public spaces in the West through repeating narratives about victimhood and its right to defend itself,” Dina Matar, professor of political communication and Arab media at SOAS, told Arab News.

Monday’s strike in Tehran closely mirrors Israel’s record in Gaza and the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023. Under the banner of “eliminating terrorists,” Israel has killed at least 183 journalists in Palestine and Lebanon, according to CPJ. Others put the figure closer to 220.

This frame grab from a video released by Iran state TV shows the network building on fire after an Israeli drone attack, June 16, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Iran state TV, IRINN via AP)

A separate report published in April by the Costs of War project at Brown University described the Gaza conflict as “the worst ever for journalists.”

Titled “News Graveyards: How Dangers to War Reporters Endanger the World,” the study concluded that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in all major US wars combined.

The report was swiftly attacked by Israeli nationalists, who dismissed it as “garbage” and factually flawed for not linking the journalists killed to militant activity.

A tribute for slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is shown during an observation of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations on May 15, 2023 in New York City. (AFP)

“There is no policy of targeting journalists,” a senior Israeli officer said last year, attributing the deaths to the scale and intensity of the bombardment.

But Herrera disagrees.

“Israel is not only targeting journalists, it is targeting the families of the journalists as a strategy to deter their coverage and punish them for reporting the war crimes Israel commits on a daily basis in occupied Palestine,” she said.

Palestinian journalists lift placards during a rally in protest of the killing of fellow reporters Hussam Shabat and Muhammad Mansour in Israeli strikes a day earlier, at the al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital, in Gaza City on March 25, 2025. (AFP)

Herrera cited several examples where Israel appeared to punish journalists by targeting their families. One case was that of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, who was broadcasting live when he learned that his wife, daughter, son, and grandchild had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023.

A more recent case involved photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, who was killed alongside several family members. Both attacks, Israel claimed, were aimed at Hamas operatives, but critics say they reflect a broader strategy of silencing coverage through collective punishment.

Yet accusations of Israel’s targeting of journalists precede the last 20 months.

Mourners and colleagues holding 'press' signs surround the body of Al-Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, killed along with his cameraman Rami al-Refee in an Israeli strike during their coverage of Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp, on July 31, 2024. (AFP)

“Israel has a long and documented history of targeting Palestinian journalists,” said Matar, pointing to the 1972 assassination of writer Ghassan Kanafani in Beirut.

A prominent Palestinian author and militant, Kanafani was considered to be a leading novelist of his generation and one of the Arab world’s leading Palestinian writers.

He was killed along with his 17-year-old niece, Lamees, by an explosive device planted in his car by Mossad, in one of the first known extrajudicial killings for which the Israeli spy agency ever claimed responsibility.

Relatives over the body of journalist Ahmed Mansur at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on April 8, 2025. (AFP)

More recently, in May 2022, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead by an Israeli soldier during a raid in Jenin, despite wearing a press vest. Initial Israeli claims blaming Palestinian fire were quickly disproven by independent investigations and the UN.

A 2025 documentary identified the suspected shooter, but no one has been held accountable.

Foreign media workers have also been killed. In 2014, Italian journalist Simone Camilli and his Palestinian colleague Ali Shehda Abu Afash died when an unexploded Israeli bomb detonated while they were reporting in Gaza.

This frame grab from a video released by Iran state TV shows anchor Sahar Emami amid an explosion from an Israeli attack during a live TV broadcast, June 16, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Iran state TV, IRINN via AP)

In 2003, Welsh documentarian James Miller was fatally shot by Israeli forces while filming in Rafah.

A year earlier, Italian photojournalist Raffaele Ciriello — on assignment for Corriere della Sera — was shot dead by Israeli gunfire in Ramallah during the Second Intifada, becoming the first foreign journalist killed in that conflict.

No one has been held accountable in any of these cases.

“The reason behind Israel’s targeting and killing of journalists is to send a clear message and instill fear of reporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and the West Bank, as it can carry the consequence of death and/or injury,” said Herrera, who noted Israel’s refusal to allow international media into Gaza as part of a wider strategy to monopolize the narrative.

“This is an attempt to minimize or flat out stop any negative coverage of Israeli actions in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories,” she said. “Israel does not want international media, and particularly Western media, to cover their genocide campaign and their ongoing and systematic war crimes … and push further the delegitimization of Israel.”

While Israel has so far refused to grant broader media access to the enclave, Western news organizations and human rights groups have attempted to push back against the Israeli narrative, arguing that affiliation with outlets like Al-Aqsa TV or Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB does not justify extrajudicial killings.

“News outlets, even propagandist ones, are not legitimate military targets,” the Freedom of the Press Foundation said in a statement on Monday. “Bombing a studio during a live broadcast will not impede Iran’s nuclear program.”

As the conflict with Iran escalates, incidents like Monday’s bombing are likely to face growing scrutiny. For many observers, Israel’s actions are becoming increasingly indefensible, and international tolerance for such attacks may be nearing its limit.

“The international community has played an important role in allowing Israel to act in this manner,” said Herrera.

“Since its establishment in 1948, and even before that though the Balfour Declaration in 1917, the West has protected Israel in the international relations arena.

“The best example of this is the use of the US veto in the UN Security Council or the ever-present declarations that Israel ‘has a right to defend itself’ by European and American political leadership.

“Until the international community effectively implements sanctions, stops funding and arming Israel, we will only continue to witness Israel’s brazen violations of international and human rights law.

“We cannot expect Israel to self-regulate because Israel is not a democracy. Its political and legal systems are subservient to the Zionist ideology of colonization and racial supremacy, and will act to satisfy these aims.”

 


UAE warns against ‘miscalculated actions’ in Israeli-Iranian conflict, calls for immediate ceasefire

Updated 51 min 32 sec ago
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UAE warns against ‘miscalculated actions’ in Israeli-Iranian conflict, calls for immediate ceasefire

  • Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan says Emirati leadership is dedicated to promotion of stability, prosperity and justice
  • He highlights ‘the risks of reckless and miscalculated actions that could extend beyond the borders’ of Israel and Iran

LONDON: As military exchanges between Israel and Iran continued on Tuesday for a fifth consecutive day, the UAE’s minister of foreign affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, warned of the wider threat posed by the continuing conflict and called for an immediate ceasefire.

“There is no alternative to political and diplomatic solutions,” he said, calling on the UN and its Security Council to intervene and halt the escalating violence.

He also highlighted “the risks of reckless and miscalculated actions that could extend beyond the borders” of Israel and Iran, the Emirates News Agency reported.

The UAE believes “a diplomatic approach is urgently required to lead both parties toward deescalation, end hostilities, and prevent the situation from spiraling into grave and far-reaching consequences,” he added.

The goal of international diplomacy, he said, must be to immediately halt hostilities, prevent the conflict from spiraling out of control, and mitigate its effects on global peace and security.

The UAE condemned the Israeli airstrikes on Iran that began on Friday, which have targeted nuclear sites, military leaders, intelligence chiefs and atomic scientists. Iran has responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israeli towns and cities along the Mediterranean, including Tel Aviv, Rishon LeZion and Haifa.

Sheikh Abdullah said the Emirati leadership is dedicated to the promotion of stability, prosperity and justice, and he stressed the urgent need for wisdom in a region long embroiled in conflicts.

“The UAE believes that promoting dialogue, adhering to international law and respecting the sovereignty of states are essential principles for resolving the current crises,” he added.

“The UAE calls on the United Nations and the Security Council to fully uphold their responsibilities by preventing further escalation, and taking urgent and necessary measures to achieve a ceasefire and reinforce international peace and security.”


At least 60 people feared missing in two deadly shipwrecks off Libya, IOM says

Updated 17 June 2025
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At least 60 people feared missing in two deadly shipwrecks off Libya, IOM says

  • IOM says shipwrecks happened off the Libyan coast

CAIRO: At least 60 people were feared missing at sea after two deadly shipwrecks off the coast of Libya in recent days, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.


Russia says Israel attacks on Iran are illegal, notes Iran’s commitment to NPT

Updated 17 June 2025
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Russia says Israel attacks on Iran are illegal, notes Iran’s commitment to NPT

  • The statement said Moscow was waiting for the International Atomic Energy Agency to provide “unvarnished” assessments of the damage caused to Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli attacks

MOSCOW: Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced continued Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal and said a solution to the conflict over Tehran’s nuclear program could only be found through diplomacy.
A ministry statement posted on Telegram noted Iran’s “clear statements” on its commitment to adhere to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and its willingness to meet with US representatives.
The statement also said Moscow was waiting for the International Atomic Energy Agency to provide “unvarnished” assessments of the damage caused to Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli attacks.