Diabetes Fact: Bangladesh Perspective

Abstract

Bangladesh is a developing country where 75% of total population lives in rural area. Subsequently they have poor healthcare access as 26% of rural professionals remain vacant and nearly 40%, absent. Although official documents indicate that 80% of the population has access to affordable essential drugs, there is plenty of evidence of a scarcity of essential drugs in government healthcare facilities. Nearly 45% rural people take medical assessment from unqualified health workers including medical assistants, mid-wives, village doctors, community health workers in comparison to that by qualified medical graduates (only 10%-20%). More than 75% women having complications sought treatment from an unqualified provider. These are mostly because concern over medical costs, and pronounced socioeconomic disparities found for care-seeking behavior in both urban and rural Bangladesh. However, the government’s expenditure on health is the third largest in the country, after education and defense. Diabetes is a complicated chronic disease; non-compliant patients are in a risk of moderate to severe complications, to much extent unexplored to maximum people of Bangladesh. Annually diabetes is responsible for 5% of all deaths globally, and its prevalence is increasing steadily. As reported by International Diabetes Federation (IDF), approximately 75–80% of people with diabetes die due to cardiovascular complications.