Diabetes and heart diseases are a major public health problem globally as well as in Armenia ranked the third for the number of deaths attributed annually to them, Chief endocrinologist of Armenian Ministry of Healthcare Edward Toromanyan told at a press conference eon Tuesday at Media Center.

The endocrinologist recalled data suggesting the number of people with diabetes is around 400 million in the world and likely to increase with growing incidence of Type 2 Diabetes.

“The same rates are actual for Armenia. In 2000, 40 thousand people were diagnosed with diabetes, while the number has doubled today with around 83 thousand patients registered in the dispensary. According to our estimates, the number will surpass the 90 thousand with the ongoing annual rate of 7-8 thousand diagnosed with diabetes,” Toromanyan said.

In his words diabetes is approaching epidemic proportions considering also the rapid rate of spread of the disease.

According to predictions of the specialists, the number of people with diabetes will reach 500 million by 2020, amounting to the 5 percent of the world population.