The Curse of Wealth
Middle Eastern Countries Need to Address the Rapidly Rising Burden of Diabetes
Published in: International Journal of Health Policy and Management, v. 2, no. 3, Apr. 2014, p. 109-114
Posted on RAND.org on April 01, 2014
The energy boom of the last decade has led to rapidly increasing wealth in the Middle East, particularly in the oil and gas-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This exceptional growth in prosperity has brought with it rapid changes in lifestyles that have resulted in a significant rise in chronic disease. In particular the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has increased dramatically and health system capacity has not kept pace. In this article, we summarize the current literature to illustrate the magnitude of the problem, its causes and its impact on health and point to options how to address it.
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