Silent Epidemic: One in Seven Sri Lankan Adults Has Diabetes, Experts Warn

Alarming Prevalence Hidden by Widespread Lack of Awareness

A startling health crisis is unfolding across Sri Lanka, with medical experts revealing that approximately 15 percent of the country's adult population is living with diabetes — and nearly half of those affected have no idea they carry the condition.

The figures, highlighted by a leading health expert, paint a deeply concerning picture of a disease quietly spreading through communities island-wide. Of every ten Sri Lankan adults diagnosed with diabetes, four remain completely unaware of their status, leaving them vulnerable to severe and potentially life-threatening complications.

A Disease That Hides in Plain Sight

Diabetes is widely recognised as a condition that can progress without obvious symptoms in its early stages, making routine screening critically important. Medical professionals warn that undiagnosed cases are particularly dangerous, as prolonged high blood sugar levels can cause irreversible damage to the kidneys, eyes, nerves, and cardiovascular system before any symptoms become apparent.

The expert cautioned that Sri Lanka's diabetes burden is placing enormous pressure on an already stretched public health system, and that proactive measures at both the individual and national level are urgently needed.

Key Concerns Raised by Health Experts

• Fifteen percent of Sri Lankan adults are currently living with diabetes.
• Forty percent of those with the condition are undiagnosed and unaware.
• Late detection dramatically increases the risk of serious complications.
• Lifestyle factors including poor diet and physical inactivity are major contributors.

Urgent Call for Screening and Lifestyle Reform

Health authorities and medical professionals are urging Sri Lankans to undergo regular blood sugar testing, particularly those with risk factors such as a family history of diabetes, obesity, or a sedentary lifestyle. Early detection, they stress, is the single most effective tool in preventing the condition from progressing to a debilitating stage.

Diabetes does not wait for symptoms to appear. By the time many patients seek care, significant damage may already have occurred.

Experts are also calling on the government to strengthen national awareness campaigns and expand access to affordable screening programmes, especially in rural areas where healthcare access remains limited. Dietary education and encouragement of physical activity have been identified as essential pillars of any long-term strategy to curb the growing epidemic.

With Sri Lanka's population ageing and urbanisation driving increasingly sedentary lifestyles, medical professionals warn that the diabetes burden will only grow heavier in the years ahead unless decisive action is taken now.

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