DiabMart wants to be there for the 89 days your doctor isn’t

Most people with diabetes see their doctor for a few minutes every three months. That leaves 89 days of meals, glucose readings, and daily decisions handled entirely alone. A new Dubai-based platform, DiabMart, was built specifically for that gap.

The numbers behind this problem are striking. According to the IDF Diabetes Atlas 2025, more than 1.27 million adults in the UAE are living with diabetes, and nearly 64% remain undiagnosed. The UAE has world-class clinical care, but a diagnosis or a follow-up appointment does not automatically translate into confident, informed self-management between visits. That's the space DiabMart is trying to occupy.

"Healthcare is there on appointment day. We built DiabMart for every day in between," said Hassan Siddiqui, Founder and CEO of DiabMart. Siddiqui, who has personal experience managing diabetes, described the platform as the companion he wished had existed. "Diabetes is managed at the dinner table, during the morning walk, and in small daily choices," he said. "I built the companion I wished existed, so no one has to navigate those days alone."

How does it work?

DiabMart combines an online product store with health technology and lifestyle coaching. The platform is not a pharmacy or a clinic and does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment. Licensed partners handle dispensing and clinical care. What DiabMart offers is everything around that clinical layer:

• Diabetic-friendly foods and snacks
• Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices
• Foot and skin care essentials
• Subscription-based delivery of diabetes care products
• Nutrition and fitness coaching
• DiabMate, an AI-powered companion that helps users read glucose trends and build healthier habits
• DiabMart @ Work, a corporate wellness programme for employers focused on metabolic health

The company partners with global health technology manufacturers and regional distributors to reach users across all seven Emirates.

Why does it matter?

The clinical system in the UAE is doing more on diabetes than ever before. The Ministry of Health and Prevention has conducted more than 150,000 diabetes screening tests. Abu Dhabi's Healthy Living Strategy includes 25 initiatives aimed at reducing obesity, diabetes, and heart disease by shifting focus from treatment to prevention, delivered with private sector partners.

But every screening that finds prediabetes or diabetes creates a person who walks out of a clinic needing to change how they eat, move, and live. A follow-up appointment in three months does not fill that space. DiabMart is positioning itself to be present when that person gets home, and every day after.

The company has already seen growing demand for connected glucose monitoring and subscription-based care models, which points to a real appetite for ongoing support outside the clinic.

The context

The UAE's broader push toward digital health and preventive care, reflected in initiatives across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, has created the right conditions for platforms like DiabMart. Across the GCC, governments are actively encouraging private sector participation in closing the gap between public health ambitions and everyday patient experience. DiabMart fits that model directly: it is not competing with the clinical system, it is extending it. And in a country where nearly two-thirds of people with diabetes may not even know they have it, tools that support daily self-awareness and habit change are not optional extras. They are part of the solution.

Learn more at www.diabmart.ae