Bangladesh has 13.9m people living with diabetes: Study

Around 13.9 million people in Bangladesh are living with diabetes, but a significant proportion of them are unaware that they have the disease, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

Against this backdrop, research and advocacy organisation PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) has called for mandatory warning labels on the front of food packages to alert consumers to excessive levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat.

The organisation made the demand in a press release issued on Friday (November 13) ahead of World Diabetes Day, which will be observed on Saturday (November 14). This year’s theme is ‘Early Action on Diabetes’.

Citing IDF data, PROGGA said approximately 13.9 million people aged between 20 and 79 were living with diabetes in Bangladesh in 2024. Of them, 39.1 per cent were unaware of their condition.

The country also incurred nearly Tk12,000 crore in diabetes-related healthcare expenditure during the year, highlighting the growing economic burden of the disease.

According to PROGGA, consumption of ultra-processed foods containing excessive amounts of sugar, salt and saturated fat is increasing in Bangladesh.

Research shows that around 97 per cent of people in the country consume packaged food at least once a week. Many of these products contain sugar, salt and fat above the limits recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the organisation said.

PROGGA believes that introducing front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) would help consumers easily identify harmful ingredients in food products and make informed choices about their diets.

The organisation has called for the rapid finalisation of the draft Safe Food (Packaged Food Labelling) Regulations 2026, prepared by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority.

ABM Zubayer, executive director of PROGGA, said consumers had the right to know about excessive sugar and other harmful ingredients in food products as part of early action to prevent diabetes.

“To protect public health, the draft regulations must be finalised quickly and warning labels introduced on the front of food packages without any form of interference,” he said.