The prevalence of diabetes among adults aged 40 years and over in Fiji
Garry Brian, Jacqueline Ramke, Louise Maher, Andrew Page, John Szetu
This paper reports a 2009 survey that estimates how many adults aged 40 years and over living in Fiji have diabetes: 99,000 people (41% of the people in this age group). In this age group: Indian Fijians have approximately twice the risk of having diabetes compared with Melanesian Fijians; females have almost twice the risk compared with males; and, risk increased with increasing age. Management of diabetes is likely to be poor in a developing country such as Fiji because of scant resources. Unless something is done about improving diagnosis and management of diabetes in the community, with passing time there is likely to be an increasing, and perhaps eventually unmanageable, burden of diabetes-related complications (e.g. blindness, loss of lower limbs, kidney problems) that will put great strain on medical services, communities and individuals.