As World Well-being Week commences, the focus on employee health demands an honest reckoning with chronic conditions, particularly diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation, one in nine individuals globally now lives with diabetes, and health expenditure linked to the disease has surpassed USD 1 trillion—a 338% increase over 17 years. In Pakistan, an estimated 33 million adults have diabetes, meaning every third Pakistani is diabetic, with a high proportion undiagnosed due to limited screening infrastructure.
The Personal and Professional Burden of Diabetes
Dr. Afshan Mir, a consultant paediatrician and executive director at the Dilawar Hussain Foundation, writes from personal experience: diabetes runs in her family, and her father passed away at age 42. She notes that patients face daily blood sugar monitoring, anxiety around meals, and complications like blindness, stroke, kidney failure, and amputation. Depression often accompanies these struggles but remains unaddressed. Diabetes follows people into workplaces, affecting productivity and relationships.
Why Workplaces Must Adapt
Employees with diabetes face stigma, disrupted meal timing due to meetings, lack of private space for insulin or finger pricks, work stress that raises blood sugar, and office food menus that ignore diabetic needs. There is no training to recognize hypoglycaemic episodes—where a colleague may appear confused or disoriented—or SOPs for emergencies. Solutions are simple and inexpensive: flexible break schedules, access to healthy meals, designated eating spaces, stress management resources, and a culture where employees can disclose their condition without fear.
Practical Steps for Diabetes-Inclusive Workplaces
A diabetes-inclusive workplace offers flexible break schedules for blood glucose checks and medication, healthy meal options, designated spaces for eating, and stress management resources. Colleagues should be trained to recognize hypoglycaemia symptoms—confusion, agitation, unconsciousness—which can be mistaken for intoxication. Immediate response can save a life, as hypoglycaemia can be fatal. Dr. Mir recommends a basic interactive workshop in every workplace to promote early screening, encourage open discussion, and provide management guidance with a medical team including a diabetes educator.
Individual Responsibility and Screening
Professionals with diabetes must maintain daily routines: a ten-minute walk after lunch, hydration, adequate sleep, and identifying stress triggers. For pre-diabetic Pakistanis, a fasting blood sugar or HbA1c test is quick, inexpensive, and can reveal pre-diabetes early enough that lifestyle changes may prevent progression. The Dilawar Hussain Foundation is developing training programmes on warning signs, management, and support gestures, including basic life support and destigmatization initiatives.
The Broader Impact of Uncontrolled Diabetes
Uncontrolled diabetes dramatically increases risks of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and lower-limb amputation. It is a gateway disease that fuels the chronic illness burden overwhelming healthcare systems. Investing in diabetes awareness and workplace support is no longer peripheral but a consequential issue requiring collective focus.
