JAKARTA: Indonesia's health sector has reported that the number of children diagnosed with diabetes has increased more than 400 percent in the past three years. The ministry of health also confirmed that they have also been receiving indications that children are being more and more reported to have diabetes. “In May 2009, the number of diabetic children handled by endocrine pediatricians was 156 and in October this year the number reached 816,” Aman Pulungan, a pediatric endocrine expert at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Jakarta, was quoted by China's Xinhua news agency as saying. Pulungan said there are two possibilities for the situation. “Either there was an explosion or there was ignorance about the problem as there has not been any comprehensive study conducted on Indonesian children suffering from diabetes,” he said. Some experts have estimated that three out of every 1,000 Indonesian children are diabetic. A ministry of health official in Jakarta told Bikyamasr.com that they believe that as the country's health sector becomes more modernized, there is going to be a rise in a number of illnesses previously not reported due to better services. “What we are seeing is probably not as worrisome as some would have it seen,” health ministry official Jalal Islam told Bikyamasr.com. “The reality is that better services make it seem like more Indonesians are sick, when the reality is that many of them simply did not have proper health services in years before.” Pulungan said the majority of diabetic cases among children are detected during the school holiday season in June and July. “Diabetic diagnosis among children peaks around the holiday season when their sleeping and eating habits become irregular,” he said. Indonesia only has 40 endocrine pediatricians nationwide, highlighting a major obstacle to dealing with diabetic problem. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health announced it is cooperating with pharmaceutical company Sanofi, the American Diabetes Association, state health insurer Asuransi Kesehatan and Indonesian Endocrinologist Association to provide diabetes training to 5,500 doctors over the next four years. The Indonesian health ministry said diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the country with nearly 74 percent of cases remaining undetected. For the ministry and health professionals, they expect the numbers to level out over the next year or two as the overall health sector finds its way into rural areas and poorer segments of society, which Islam believes will assist those struggling to receive the proper care they deserve.
