Landmark Arabia, claimed to be the largest retail conglomerate in Saudi Arabia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MoH), conducted activities under the Beat Diabetes initiative, the group’s flagship CSR program, which focused on creating awareness of the disease.

The initiative, aimed at educating people about the importance of early screening in the detection of diabetes, offered free blood glucose testing to people across Saudi cities throughout January.

The seventh edition of International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas indicates that the disease affects around 17.6 percent of Saudi population, which equates to approximately 3.8 million people living with the condition Kingdomwide.

Dr. Mamdouh bin Faleh Al-Thaqeel, assistant director general of health affairs in Riyadh, said: “The aim of the initiative has been to detect the early onset of diabetes, which proved to be significant. We have been able to scan over 220 participating shoppers in Riyadh, and more than 5 percent of those diagnosed as diabetic were not aware of being afflicted with the condition.”