I note correspondence about whether Maltese diabetes prevalence is just over six per cent or almost 14 per cent. The figure of around six per cent is a few decades old – obesity and diabetes type 2 are recognised to have been on the rise worldwide.

Last September, the World Health Organisation claimed that the Maltese were now the most obese in the EU, and a few months ago the International Diabetes Federation claimed Malta had the highest estimated prevalence of diabetes for people aged between 20 and 79 (nearly 14 per cent) of 56 European countries surveyed.

Figures just published show Malta has almost twice the EU average of deaths due to heart attacks. One of the most potent risk factors for heart attack is diabetes and the pre-diabetic state. There might be as many pre-diabetics as there are established ones. There really is no advantage in trying to minimise the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes – this is a problem of epidemic proportions.