KUALA LUMPUR: About 15.6% of Malaysian adults, or roughly one in six, are living with diabetes, and that’s not all. Alarmingly, two in five are unaware of their condition.
Health Ministry Disease Control Division director Dr Noraryana Hassan said the findings, reported in the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2023, revealed a concerning trend, as 84% of young Malaysian adults aged 18 to 29 did not know they had diabetes.
She said there was an urgent need to initiate diabetes screening at an earlier age to prevent complications and reduce the risk of premature death among younger individuals.
“As more Malaysians are diagnosed with diabetes and its complications, we must continue to prevent the onset of diabetes and simultaneously retard or delay the onset of its complications,” she said at the Diabetes Malaysia Conference 2025 here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Her speech was read out by the division’s acting deputy director (Non-Communicable Diseases) Dr Nik Khairol Reza Md Yazin.
Dr Noraryana said those with diabetes were at the highest risk for complications, such as ischaemic heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetic emergencies.
“These complications reduced the quality of life as further organ damage such as blindness, amputation, heart failure, stroke with full dependency, erectile dysfunction and end-stage renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy ensue,” she said.
On the conference, she said it will provide new knowledge and empower stakeholders involved, especially at the primary care levels.
Dr Noraryana said primary care played a major role in screening for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, but the burden was now on treating diabetes and its complications.
“Central to the care of diabetes is also the empowerment of patients with diabetes. Self-care such as dietary habits, exercise, foot care, self-monitoring of blood glucose, understanding medications and compliance need to be continuously emphasised when managing them,” she said.
With the theme “Personalised and Sustainable Diabetes Care: Building a Healthier Tomorrow,” the conference, which ends tomorrow, aims to strengthen knowledge-sharing and cross-disciplinary collaboration in the fight against diabetes.
