CROWN PRINCESS KATHERINE’S APPEAL ON THE WORLD DIABETES DAY

On World Diabetes Day, which is marked today, HRH Crown Princess Katherine expresses her concerns regarding the high number of people who suffer from diabetes in Serbia and sends her appeal to the people to take special care of their health, and to listen to the expert’s advice to reduce the probability of development of this disease by making healthier life choices.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, it is estimated that there are about 537 million adults in the world with this health problem, while the number of people with this disease in Serbia is over 750,000, according to the latest data available on the Institute for Public Health “Milan Jovanovic Batut”. Diabetes is responsible for 6.7 million deaths in the world in 2021 - 1 every 5 seconds, according to the data provided by IDF.

With the current Covid-19 pandemic, where experts agree that people with diabetes are at high risk of the virus and that it could also be fatal for them if infected, it is of high importance for diabetics to take the prescribed therapy orderly and to go to the regular check-ups to their doctors.

In our country, diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death. What is especially worrying is that diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed among children and adolescents, because of the growing epidemic of obesity. Given all the above facts, those numbers could be significantly reduced by having healthier life choices and by following doctors’ advice.

„I am very concerned when I look upon statistics how many people in our country and the entire world area have diabetes. These numbers could be significantly reduced by having healthier life choices, with more physical activities, proper choices of food we eat, trying to reduce stress in our lives, and occasionally checking the level of sugar in the blood. We need to listen to the doctors in this area, acknowledge their advice, and change life habits that are jeopardizing our health toward diabetes disease. Health is precious, life is a gift from God to us, and we must be responsible and do everything to preserve it.

For over 10 years, my Foundation organizes Serbian Diaspora Medical Conference to develop and exchange knowledge and experience, between Serbian doctors and doctors abroad, from all areas of medicine, so our people can have better medical care. This year, part of the lectures was about diabetes, and valuable scientific findings and experiences have been exchanged between the doctors. Their implementation in everyday practice is of great importance, but also, everybody should listen to the advice provided by medical experts”, said HRH Crown Princess Katherine.