Diabetes, particularly type 2, has tightened its grip on Pakistan, pushing the country into one of the worst health crises of its time. With over 3.4 million people suffering from diabetic foot and millions more at risk of heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, and disability, the disease has become a national emergency.
The International Diabetes Federation confirms Pakistan now carries the highest adult diabetes rate in the world, underscoring the urgency of prevention and comprehensive care.
Nearly one-tenth of Pakistan’s diabetic population endures the grim ordeal of diabetic foot, exposing more than 3.4 million citizens to the peril of festering ulcers and, in countless cases, eventual amputations. Medical voices caution that this affliction is not an isolated concern but rather the visible scar of a much larger epidemic silently eroding lives.
The nation, already bearing the stigma of the world’s steepest diabetes prevalence rate, is watching the disease unfurl a silent war—triggering heart seizures, brain strokes, kidney ruin, blindness, and lifelong disablement. What once seemed a manageable illness has transfigured into one of Pakistan’s most ruthless and financially draining maladies.
According to the International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas 2025, the country’s financial hemorrhage on diabetes care has swollen from $2.6 billion to $2.7 billion over four years. This translates into an almost unthinkable Rs760 billion strain on the nation’s already fragile health infrastructure and broader economy.
The grim statistics are staggering: 34.5 million Pakistanis between the ages of 20 and 79 now live tethered to diabetes, earning the country the fourth spot globally—surpassed only by China, India, and the United States. Worse still, projections are ominous. If decisive prevention remains absent, the diabetic tide is set to engulf 70.2 million Pakistanis by 2050.
Despite such overwhelming numbers, the nation’s investment in patient care is shockingly meagre. With barely $79 allocated annually per sufferer, Pakistan ranks among the world’s lowest spenders on diabetes. This paltry figure leaves millions untreated or under-treated, deepening not only the risk of physical ruin but also pushing countless families into economic catastrophe.
The IDF report lays bare another distressing truth: Pakistan harbours the highest age-standardised prevalence rate of diabetes on the globe—31.4 percent, a cruel contrast to the far gentler global average. Even more alarming, roughly 26.9 percent of diabetics—some 9.3 million individuals—are undiagnosed, unknowingly marching toward devastating outcomes such as organ collapse, amputations, and irreversible blindness.
Each year, diabetes extinguishes nearly 230,000 Pakistani lives. And the crisis stretches beyond adults: one in every five births is now shadowed by hyperglycemia during pregnancy, a condition that quietly sows long-term health hazards for both mothers and their newborns.
In a nation where the disease is spreading like wildfire, the silence around its true cost is deafening. Without urgent intervention, Pakistan risks a generational health calamity of proportions yet unseen.
Pakistan’s battle with diabetes — driven largely by type 2 cases — has reached a crisis point. Health specialists caution that more than 3.4 million people in the country live with diabetic foot, a condition that can progress into painful ulcers or even amputations. Millions more remain vulnerable to the disease’s devastating complications: heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, blindness, and long-term disability. According to the International Diabetes Federation, Pakistani adults now face the highest diabetes rates in the world, even after accounting for global age differences. This is nothing less than a public health emergency.
A recent development in Karachi offers a rare glimpse of what comprehensive care should look like. The Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology has opened a multidisciplinary facility that brings together cardiac, neurology, nephrology, and ophthalmology clinics under one roof, ensuring patients are treated for both diabetes and its cascading complications. Yet, such centres remain scarce in a country where many cannot access even the most basic diagnostic screening.
While the disease is unrelenting, it is not unpreventable. Prevention begins in daily life — through balanced meals instead of sugar-laden diets, regular physical activity, and prompt attention to early warning signs. Simple, consistent lifestyle habits can delay or even avert the onset of diabetes. But prevention must extend beyond households. Communities, schools, and workplaces must foster healthier living. Children should grow up playing in open playgrounds rather than staring at locked gates; offices should integrate movement into routine; and grocery shelves should display transparent and truthful food labels. Societies that normalize wellness make it harder for disease to take root.
Still, grassroots changes cannot succeed without strong state involvement. Pakistan urgently needs a national diabetes control strategy that prioritises preventive screening, equips healthcare workers to detect cases early, and holds the sugar industry accountable through taxation and clear labelling. Left unchecked, diabetes will continue to claim thousands of lives each year while draining national resources. But if confronted with determination, it can be controlled — and many of its most severe consequences can be avoided. The choice lies with us.
Diabetes may be relentless, but it is not inevitable. With healthier lifestyles, transparent food practices, and a robust national diabetes control plan, Pakistan can slow the tide of this growing epidemic. The disease will either continue to claim countless lives and drain resources — or, if tackled head-on, be managed effectively to protect future generations.