Prague – The costs of the Czech healthcare system for the treatment of diabetes are around 20 billion crowns per year. Complications cost the most, such as damage to the eyes or legs. In a press release on Thursday’s World Diabetes Day, the Union of Health Insurance Companies (SZP) informed about this. There are more than 1.1 million patients, with approximately 4,500 new ones added every year. Health care costs were 465.6 billion crowns last year, so diabetes treatment consumed more than four percent.
“Diabetes is a problem in itself, moreover, it has a negative effect on the course of any other diseases. Most of the 20 billion crowns of costs that the public health system spends annually on the treatment of diabetes goes precisely to the treatment of the complications that the disease brings,” said the executive director of the association, Martin Ballad.
Among the most serious complications caused by diabetes is eye damage. Martin Haluzík, head of the Diabetes Center of the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) said at a press conference this week that so-called diabetic retinopathy, i.e. damage to the vessels of the retina, is the most common cause of blindness in developed countries. It affects approximately 30 percent of all patients.
According to Lucie Frantlová from the Prague Eye Center, over 100,000 people in the Czech Republic suffer from it. According to her, the disease worsens for a long time without symptoms, which is why patients come late for examination. “Regular eye examinations are therefore essential for diabetics, even if they do not experience vision impairment,” she said. According to her, they are suitable at least once a year.
Ophthalmologists also have special cameras equipped with artificial intelligence available for these examinations. 158 of them participated in the program, which was prepared by the General Health Insurance Company, and since the spring of last year they have examined over 47,000 diabetics. “From our point of view, some regions are fully saturated, a sufficient number of surgeries are equipped with cameras, elsewhere we would still welcome an increase in their number,” said VZP deputy director Jan Bodnár in a press release.
Poorly treated diabetes can also lead to impairment of the lower limbs. The so-called diabetic foot, in which the patient loses sensation in the limb, can lead to amputation. “Every year in the Czech Republic, more than 10,000 people undergo amputation due to complications of diabetes,” added Barbora Jónová, a diabetologist at the Health+ clinic.
Diabetics also often struggle with kidney failure, according to Haluzík, they make up half of the patients who regularly need dialysis, i.e. mechanical blood purification.
CR health diabetes
Source: www.ceskenoviny.cz
