A series of activities will take place in major cities next month inresponse to World Diabetes Day (November 14), aiming to raise publicawareness of the disease and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle.

A festival themed “Diabetes Prevention Day” will be held inHCM City on November 3-5, then come to Hanoi on November14-16, with nearly 15,000 expected to take part.

Notably, those with high blood sugar level will have a chance to receive free health consultations.

A chronic disease, diabetes increases the risk of other serioushealth problems. The health sector reported that the prevalence ofdiabetes has grown in Vietnam in recent years.

In the1990s, diabetes incidence among the population group aged 20-79 was 1.2percent. The rate jumped to 2.7 percent in 2002 and 5.7 percent in 2012.

Medical experts estimated that some five million Vietnamesecurrently suffer from diabetes but more than 60 percent have not beendiagnosed. At the same time, many diagnosed patients have yet to receiveany proper treatment.

Dr. Nguyen Thy Khe, Chairman of theVietnamese Association of Diabetes and Endocrinology said the growingnumber of diabetes patients is to blame on a protein-laden diet and alack of physical activities.

Those suffering from overweight and high blood pressure face a higher risk of developing diabetes.-VNA