"Lifestyle diseases are becoming common in Solomon Islands because of ignorance," states Christina Peter from the diabetes section in Honiara.
Mrs. Peter said that the situation now in the hospital is that"beds are never empty for more than one day"."For the hospital's diabetes ward, the beds are never empty, sick patients are from the provinces and also in Honiara," she said.
Mrs. Peter said the increase is mainly over people's ignorance on what they eat and how they live.
"People eat more but do less exercise, giving way for all sorts of diseases to attack the body."
Solomon Times was informed that diabetes and cancer currently records as highest intake at the hospital.
According to Mrs. Peter, some patients admitted in hospital are below the age of 35 years "... and that is sad because these are young people who should be enjoying life."
Asked on the cause of the two common diseases, Mrs. Peter said that smoking, chewing of betel nut, eating food from the shops and lack of exercise are the main factors.
She also cautioned that the more people eat without doing any form exercise, the chances of them contracting diseases is very high.
"This is when going back to our basic lifestyle comes as the best advice and to start off with, eat our very own grown local food," Mrs. Peter said.