More than 34 million adults in Pakistan are living with diabetes, and this text based on the diabetes story answers what that number means. According to The Nation, 31.4 per cent of the adult population is living with the disease, a level the report calls one of the world's highest diabetes burdens. The figures appear in its account of a visit by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), a global network of diabetes organisations, to the Dilawar Hussain Foundation (DHF) centre on Ferozepur Road in Lahore.
How large the burden is
The Nation describes a countrywide burden. It states that more than 34 million adults are living with diabetes and treats accessible care as an urgent need. The Pakistan diabetes prevalence given in that report is 31.4 per cent of adults.
The global totals in the same story are separate from Pakistan's count. The report says an estimated 589 million adults aged 20 to 79 were living with diabetes worldwide in 2024, with the number projected to reach 853 million by 2050. It also says more than four in ten adults who have diabetes globally are thought to be undiagnosed. The undiagnosed estimate in the report is global only.
What the Lahore meeting was for
The foundation received the IDF delegation so the visitors could see its work on treatment, prevention, education, public awareness and community outreach. DHF became a full member of the federation in 2025. The IDF, the report notes, now represents 264 member organisations across 163 countries and territories. The text based on the diabetes story is therefore about a local centre sitting inside that wider network.
Care listed at DHF covers medical consultation and endocrinology, nutritional counselling, diabetes education, ophthalmology, foot care, pharmacy support and laboratory tests, plus awareness work, teaching and screening. Ophthalmology means eye care. The foundation runs centres in Gulberg and Garhi Shahu in Lahore, and in Kasur.
Kasur's centre also serves surrounding villages. The Lahore centres provide free and subsidised care, particularly for patients from underserved communities.
What the foundation reports about its patients
The Nation reports that DHF's work has affected more than 1.5 million people. It says 96 per cent of patients receive free or subsidised treatment, and that 90 per cent return for follow-up. The foundation also reports improved HbA1c and glucose control in 58 per cent of patients. HbA1c is a blood test that shows average glucose over recent months, rather than the result of one finger-prick on a single day.
The report argues that diabetes care is more than one consultation. Follow-up, education and the mix of clinical services are presented as the way the foundation keeps people in treatment. These percentages describe patients at DHF, as set out in the article.
What the IDF president said
Prof. Dr. Peter Schwarz, president of the International Diabetes Federation, said the challenge is global, "but effective action begins in communities." He called the foundation's approach the kind of locally rooted care that can make a measurable difference, and said he was impressed by "capacity building towards a holistic diabetes care in Pakistan."
The meeting closed with discussion of possible cooperation on awareness, education, advocacy, knowledge exchange and stronger access to care. The report leaves the timing of that cooperation open. The concrete detail for readers in Pakistan is the scale: more than 34 million adults, and subsidised services in Lahore and Kasur.
