Citing health screenings carried out by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), Sim said the number of workers who were diagnosed with diabetes last year climbed to 19.9%, compared with just 9% in 2013.

Besides affecting productivity at work and leading to a lower quality of life, he said, Socso has had to fork out more money to treat diabetic workers.

According to him, Socso spent over RM300 million last year on treatment for workers with diabetes.

“We have to find ways to slow down the increasing rate of diabetic patients among workers. That is why Socso is now on a nationwide free health screening drive as well as educating workers on good eating habits,” he told reporters here today.

Sim said Socso has been collecting information on diabetes by monitoring 800,000 workers aged 40 and above since 2013. Last year alone, it checked 175,000 people.

He said Socso found that 59.9% of these workers had high cholesterol, 20.4% had high blood pressure (hypertension), and 19.9% had diabetes. They also found that over a quarter of all the workers tested were considered obese.

He said the ministry will allocate RM24 million to set up at least one Socso dialysis centre in each state over the next two years. There is already one in Selangor and Johor, respectively.

Earlier, Sim launched a sugar-free campaign to help deter diabetes among workers at the Jabil Circuit factory in Bayan Lepas.