Prosperity’s diseases

The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have young populations and are economically classified as emerging markets, but in terms of public health they already rival the problems of much more developed countries. Epidemic health problems such as overeating, high-sugar diets, and a lack of physical exertion are eroding the gains in health and wellbeing that the six GCC countries made in the past generation, when they climbed from societies with limited nutritional resources to countries whose per-capita consumption is equal or in excess of more mature economies. The evidence for this problem comes from the alarming pace at which non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are occurring across the region. NCDs such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disease, and neuropsychiatric conditions are now common. Indeed, five of the 10 countries in the world where diabetes is most prevalent are located in the six-nation GCC, according to the International Diabetes Federation.