In Bangladesh, diabetes is silently consuming the lives and livelihoods of countless people. Behind the abstract numbers in the International Diabetes Federation statistics published in Ittefaq lie thousands of untold tragedies.
The most alarming figure is this: more than 13.8 million people in Bangladesh are now affected by this chronic disease. This naturally raises the question — why are so many people in the country becoming diabetic?
Experts have repeatedly warned that long hours of sitting at work, relentless mental pressure in the name of productivity, irregular eating, an uncontrollable addiction to processed food, and extreme indifference toward exercise — all these factors together are increasing the number of diabetes patients.
In truth, the problem is not merely at the individual level; it is a crisis in the collective lifestyle of the country. In today’s office and industrial environments, “sitting for long hours” appears to be the very measure of productivity. No one has the time to think about when employees eat, how much they walk, or whether they get proper sleep.
Diabetes is not a single disease; it is like a source from which countless complications branch out — heart disease, kidney failure, loss of vision, nerve damage, disability in the feet, and even premature death.
Once this disease permanently settles in the body, the patient not only has to carry medicines; they also bear continuous expenses, unbearable mental stress, strain on family life, reduced productivity, and a collapse in self-confidence.
For this reason, many call it a “silent killer.” From an economic perspective, the cost of diabetes can destroy the financial structure of a family. If half or more of a family’s monthly income is spent on medicines, insulin, tests, hospital visits, and treatment of complications, how can that family remain productive?
A young worker who loses eyesight or develops foot ulcers at an early age due to diabetes — can they perform the same role at work as before? Thus the damage is not merely personal; it directly weakens a nation’s workforce, productivity, and economic growth.
Therefore, the fact that more than 13.8 million people in Bangladesh have diabetes is not just a medical statistic; it is an economic warning signal. The combination of the healthcare burden, reduced work capacity, and loss of household income is eroding the country’s productivity and potential revenue.
If the state allows even one out of every ten people to become disabled due to diabetes, then in the long run it is not just a failure of the health system — it creates structural weaknesses in the national economy. Meanwhile, in the developed world, the concept of a “healthy work environment” is expanding every day.
There, workplaces have walking arrangements, regular breaks, mental-health programs, health-friendly cafeterias, and even mandatory exercise sessions. It goes without saying that without similar health-promoting changes in our work environments, the number of diabetes patients will continue to rise every year.
So where lies the solution? Experts say that 70 percent of diabetes cases are preventable. But prevention is possible only when individuals, society, and the state together build a “healthy work culture”.
Moderation in diet, regular walking, proper sleep, stress reduction, opportunities for breaks at the workplace, facilities for exercise, and access to healthy food — these responsibilities do not end at the individual level; the state also has a duty to ensure them.
Therefore, we must now choose — will we surrender another generation to this silent epidemic, or will we take the necessary steps to build a “healthy work environment”?
