KUWAIT CITY, June 7 (NNN-XINHUA) -- Over 20 percent Kuwaitis were either ill with diabetes or prone to the disease, Health Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah warned on Tuesday.

Addressing the ceremonial inauguration of a Diabetes Research and Treatment Center, Sheikh Ahmad said that 15 percent of the adults in Kuwait were diabetic, adding that Kuwait has a high percentage of people infected with the disease.

The disease has a growing rate among children in Kuwait annually, he said, calling for adoption of health programmes to correct the unhealthy habits that helped in the spread of the disease in the society.

The minister, meanwhile, noted that 28 diabetes centers in the country have already received more than 500,000 patients.

The total population of Kuwait is 2.75 million at the end of 2004.