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World J Diabetes. Mar 15, 2015; 6(2): 304-311
Published online Mar 15, 2015. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v6.i2.304
Economic development and diabetes prevalence in MENA countries: Egypt and Saudi Arabia comparison
Shalaby Sherif, Bauer E Sumpio
Shalaby Sherif, Bauer E Sumpio, Section of Vascular Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, United States
Author contributions: Both authors contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: There is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Bauer E Sumpio, MD, PhD, Professor of Vascular Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, United States. bauer.sumpio@yale.edu
Telephone: +1-203-7856217 Fax: +1-203-7857556
Received: August 29, 2014
Peer-review started: August 29, 2014
First decision: November 19, 2014
Revised: December 9, 2014
Accepted: December 18, 2014
Article in press: December 19, 2014
Published online: March 15, 2015
Abstract

Diabetes is increasing in epidemic proportions globally, exhibiting the most striking increase in third world countries with emerging economies. This phenomena is particularly evident in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, which has the highest prevalence of diabetes in adults. The most concerning indirect cost of diabetes is the missed work by the adult population coupled with the economic burden of loss of productivity. The major drivers of this epidemic are the demographic changes with increased life expectancy and lifestyle changes due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Our focus is to compare MENA region countries, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in terms of their economic development, labor force diversity and the prevalence of diabetes.

Keywords: Diabetes, Obesity, Health-related behavior, Burden of disease, Middle East and North Africa region

Core tip: The prevalence of diabetes across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been significantly rising with an increasing burden of healthcare costs. The economic changes occurring in the past decade throughout the MENA region have directed more of the labor force towards the service sector and low physically active lifestyle.