New magazine on diabetics launched

JAKARTA (JP): Diabetes, a new quarterly magazine on the disease, was launched on Saturday by the Indonesian Diabetic Association (Persadi) in cooperation with Gramedia publishing company.

Minister of Health Suyudi in a speech read by Secretary General Hidayat H, said that the number of sufferers of the disease has been growing in the past few years.

Suyudi acknowledged that diabetes is among the diseases which are difficult to handle because it is chronic and takes long periods of time to cure. He said that the patients should know simple ways to prevent the complications caused by the disease.

It is estimated that about three million of the country's whole population of 180 million suffer from diabetes. In some areas like Manado in North Sulawesi, the percentage could reach four percent of the population.

The magazine is an improvement of the Buletin Diabetes which was first launched in 1982. (par)