COMMENT | They used to say that diabetes was a “Datuk disease”. The buncit, golf buggy, teh tarik kurang manis ordering elderly “Datuk”, or that “Tan Sri” who eats steak every night and sees his doctor more often than his grandchildren.

For the longest time, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol were thought to be the success story of the rich and privileged because they’re the ones with the money to indulge.

However, this has long been proven to be a misconception. These days, NCDs are hitting the poor harder than anyone else.

A recent report done by Protecthealth, the Peka B40 2024 Report, stated that 70 percent of their participants in their screening had at least one NCD, and the reason isn’t because the poor suddenly developed expensive taste buds.

It’s because poverty itself has become a disease.