He added that according to Health Ministry statistics, 10% of the total population of Sri Lanka suffer from some form of diabetes. “If we further break down the statistics, we see 20% of the urban and semi urban population and 8% of the rural population suffering from the disease,” he said.

“There has been a rapid increase in the number of diabetic patients during the past 20 years,” he said, warning that if one is to take into account the available statistics and the current trend, 50% of Sri Lanka’s population will suffer from diabetes by the year 2050.

He also said that at present, 10% to 15% of school children also suffer from diabetes.

The term "diabetes mellitus" or diabetes refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood glucose, commonly called blood sugar. This is one of the diseases affecting about 285 million throughout the world,with type 2 diabetes making up about 90% of the cases. In Sri lanka we notice rapid increase of diabetes population now.

Glucose is vital to your health because it's an important source of energy for the cells that make up your muscles and tissues. It's your brain's main source of fuel. If you have diabetes, no matter what type, it means you have too much glucose in your blood, although the reasons may differ. Too much glucose can lead to serious health problems.

Chronic diabetes conditions include type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Potentially reversible diabetes conditions include prediabetes ( when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes) and gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy.