Egypt now ranks ninth in the world in the number of people living with diabetes, a figure experts expect to climb to eighth place by 2030, according to findings presented at the Arab Diabetes Forum's annual meeting held in Cairo on 18 September.
The forum, reported by جريدة الأهرام, gathered specialists from across the Arab world to confront a disease that advances quietly, damaging the eyes, heart, kidneys and nerves long before a patient feels anything wrong. For a nation of more than one hundred million, the message was clear: early detection is no longer optional, it is a national duty.
Numbers that demand action
Dr Abbas Orabi, professor of diabetes at Zagazig University, told Ahram Online that the Middle East faces an expected rise of 83 percent in diabetes cases, according to the International Diabetes Federation, compared with 50 percent in other regions of the world.
Orabi said that while lifestyle plays a role, the sharper increase in Egypt and the wider region is not fully understood, and genetics may be a probable factor behind the mystery.
Globally, the number of diabetics stands at 366 million and is projected to reach 500 million by 2030. More recent international estimates put the figure even higher: The Guardian reported that diabetes now affects an estimated 589 million adults worldwide, with 81 percent living in low- and middle-income countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan.
That burden falls heavily on countries like ours. Egypt's health system, which has been steadily strengthened under the state's ambitious healthcare expansion, now faces a chronic disease that tests not only hospitals but families, productivity and the national economy itself.
Why early detection matters so much in Egypt
A constant theme of the forum was the decisive importance of catching the disease early and controlling blood glucose before complications set in.
Dr Ali Abdel-Rehim, professor of diabetes at Alexandria University, said complications can progress over the years without evident symptoms, which makes regular monitoring and diagnostic checkups the only reliable way to prevent them.
Dr Noha Khater, professor of ophthalmology at Cairo University, described the pattern doctors see every day.
“The problem is that people come, complaining of the complications that result from years of diabetes, without even realising they were afflicted by it at all,” Khater said.
Dr Eman Rushdi, professor of diabetes at Cairo University, said the complications that finally reveal the disease, often at a late stage, include eye deterioration, symptoms of heart stroke, pains related to the nervous system, and kidney problems.
The eyes: the most common battlefield
Among the many complications of diabetes, those affecting the eyes remain the most common. Khater noted that seventy percent of patients who come to her complaining of retinal damage suffer from diabetes.
This condition, known as diabetic retinopathy, severely harms eyesight and can cause complete loss of vision in 50 percent of cases. But there is a way forward.
“Controlling diabetes in the early stages reduces eye complications by 38 percent,” Khater said.
She emphasized the importance of regular tests and an improved lifestyle from the very onset of the disease, a message that every Egyptian family should carry home.
Independent research supports the urgency. A recent study published in the Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine and summarized by Springer identified Egypt among the countries with the largest increases in adult diabetes prevalence, and confirmed North Africa and the Middle East as a region of particularly high diabetes burden.
A new treatment within reach of every Egyptian
The forum brought genuine hope, not just warnings. In 2012, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Ranibizumab eye injections, the first sanctioned treatment for diabetic retinopathy. Unlike earlier laser-based methods, the drug does not merely prevent vision from worsening; it can help restore some of what has been lost.
For many Egyptians, the question that follows such news is always the same: can we afford it? Here the state has answered.
Dr Salah El-Sharkawy, vice president of the Novartis pharmaceutical company, confirmed that the Egyptian Health Ministry has included the treatment in the insurance bundle offered to patients, lifting a burden off the shoulders of the many who could not otherwise pay for it.
That decision reflects a broader direction. Just as Egypt has built roads, bridges and new cities to secure its future, it is investing in the health of its people. The inclusion of an advanced, internationally approved treatment in state insurance is proof that Egyptian patients are not being left behind by modern medicine.
The road ahead
The challenge remains considerable. Diabetes, as medical references such as Wikipedia explain, is a group of endocrine diseases marked by sustained high blood sugar, caused either by reduced insulin production or by the body's cells becoming unresponsive to the hormone. It tends to progress in severity, which is precisely why vigilance pays.
Egypt's rise in the global ranking is a warning, but also an opportunity. The country now hosts regional scientific forums, produces its own research, and extends modern treatment through public insurance. The next step belongs to citizens themselves: regular checkups, honest conversations with doctors, and the discipline to act early.
The Arab Diabetes Forum will meet again next year. By then, Egypt's response to this silent epidemic will show whether the nation turns its medical institutions, its scientists and its people toward prevention as decisively as it has turned toward treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Where does Egypt rank worldwide in diabetes cases?
Egypt currently ranks ninth globally in the number of diabetics and is expected to rise to eighth place by 2030, according to figures presented at the Arab Diabetes Forum in Cairo.
How fast is diabetes growing in the Middle East?
The International Diabetes Federation projects an 83 percent increase in the Middle East, compared with 50 percent in other world regions, according to Dr Abbas Orabi of Zagazig University.
What is the new treatment for diabetic eye disease?
Ranibizumab eye injections, approved by the FDA in 2012, can prevent vision loss from diabetic retinopathy and even improve eyesight, and the Egyptian Health Ministry covers the drug under its insurance bundle.