Workshop in Erbil warns of rise in diabetes among young people, urging early screening

ERBIL — A national diabetes workshop in Erbil on Nov. 27 brought together heart, kidney, eye and diabetes specialists who warned that cases are rising rapidly in the Kurdistan Region, especially among younger people, and that many patients are unaware they are ill until serious complications appear.

The 5th National Workshop on Diabetes Management was organized by Tishk International University’s Biology Education Department in collaboration with Takvin Organization. Organizers said the goal was to connect specialists with students and the public to promote early screening and lifestyle changes.

Diabetes specialist Dr. Bland Bayar, a speaker at the event, said many patients live with the disease for years without knowing it.

“Usually, the gap between the diagnosed and undiagnosed of this disease, in the majority of our cases, is about 50 percent, and they are asymptomatic, so this will lead to a delay in the diagnosis, or when we diagnose our patients, they already have complications,” he said.

Bayar presented data showing there are about 134,587 registered diabetes patients in the Kurdistan Region, and said better data and registration systems are needed to track cases and improve care.

Cardiologist Dr. Salah Sinjary said diabetes should be viewed as a condition that affects the entire circulation system rather than only blood sugar readings.

He said high blood sugar damages blood vessels throughout the body, including the heart and brain. He advised everyone aged 35 and older, even those who feel healthy, to get tested.

In an interview at the event, Sinjary warned that society is relying too heavily on medication to compensate for poor habits. “Medicine will replace exercise and whatever we say about healthy food and a healthy diet, and we are going to be robotic to extend life by medicine, so I think that this will be the future, unfortunately,” he said.

Kidney specialist Dr. Jovan Taha focused on treatment options, saying metformin, a common diabetes drug, remains safe for most patients and can help protect the heart and liver when used correctly. Eye specialist Dr. Sadir Almalih highlighted preventable vision loss, saying too many patients skip annual eye exams until damage has already occurred.

Biologist and Tishk University lecturer Sawsan S. Hamed said lifestyle pressures are pushing younger generations toward unhealthy choices. “The young generation, they eat a lot of junk food; these junk foods contain lots of calories and slowly damage their health, so at least if they can understand the consequences of these bad, unhealthy foods, they can prevent the occurrence of diabetes,” she said.

Students who attended the workshop said it helped them connect classroom learning with real-world practice. Pharmacy student Aya Sarbast said the event deepened her understanding of how diabetes drugs work in complex patients.

“The event was very important because, as a pharmacy student, I could learn more about the drugs that are used in diabetes, especially the relation between diabetes and other diseases like cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, and more,” she said.

Other students said poor lifestyle habits, including junk food, sugary drinks, lack of exercise and limited health education, are major reasons diabetes is spreading and may leave future generations facing more serious illness at younger ages.

Organizers said they plan to continue similar programs to raise awareness, encourage routine screening and promote healthier habits, stressing that diabetes can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart if it is not detected and managed early.