LAHORE, Nov 14: Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Principal Prof Dr Anjum Habib Vohra has said more than 10 million people in Pakistan are suffering from diabetes, apprehending the number may get doubled by 2030 if measures to curb it were not taken.

He said diabetes was mother of all diseases and should be curbed through a vigorous campaign, like the one launched against dengue virus recently.

Addressing an awareness walk and symposium held in connection with World Diabetes Day on Wednesday at the Lahore General Hospital, Dr Vohra said local as well as foreign dengue experts were astonished to learn that the Punjab government had controlled the virus through dedication and coordination. The dengue outbreak had claimed 200 lives and affected thousands of people in the province just a year back. “The same spirit is required to control other life-threatening diseases like diabetes and lives of hundreds of thousands of people can be saved through creating awareness and taking preventive measures only,” he said.

King Edward Medical College former principal Dr Mehmood Ali Malik, LGH Board of Management Chairman Ziauddin Butt, MS Dr Muhammad Hasan, Prof Ghayyas-un-Nabi Tayyab, Prof Dr Agha Shabbir Ali, Prof Dr Ali Haider, Prof Dr Muhammad Aslam, Dr Israrul Haq Toor, Diabetes Specialist Dr Imran Hasan Khan and faculty members, doctors, nurses, students and a large number of patients and their attendants were present on the occasion.

On the occasion, chief minister’s adviser on health Khwaja Salman Rafique stressed the need for sensitising the public about preventive measures against diseases as it could help people avoid expenses of millions of rupees incurred on treatment.

Prof Mehmood Malik, Prof Ghayyas-un-Nabi and Dr Imran Hasan suggested regular physical exercise and simple food as measures to prevent the disease. They apprehended that the number of diabetics might get doubled by 2030 if effective steps like public awareness drives against the disease were not taken.

A free diabetes camp was also held at the hospital where blood sugar tests of hundreds of patients were conducted free of cost.