The number of adults worldwide with diabetes is twice as high as previously thought

According to research, there are more than 800 millions adults with diabetes in the world, which is almost twice as high as was previously believed.

The study, that was published in The Lancet on World Diabetes Day (14 November) earlier this week also found that more than 50% of people aged 30 and older who suffer from diabetes do not receive treatment.

According to the study, diabetes prevalence has increased from 7% in 1990 to 14% today. This increase is largely due to an increasing number of diagnoses occurring in low and middle income countries.

The study revealed that in 2022 there will be 828 millions people worldwide aged 18 and older who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The authors reported that 445 millions adults over 30 years old, or 59%, did not receive treatment.

The study concluded that “our results show an increasing inequity in diabetes around the world. The largest increases in diabetes prevalence occurred in low and middle income countries. However, the greatest improvements in treatment have been seen in high-income industrialised nations of Europe, North America, Australasia and the Pacific and in some middle-income and emerging economies in Latin America and other well-performing middle-income nations.”

It said that “These trends have increased the global gap between diabetes prevalence and treatment. An increasing number of people, particularly those with untreated diabetics, live in low- and middle-income nations.”

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus stated that the new numbers showed “an alarming increase in diabetes during the last three decades”.

He said that this was due to the rise in obesity and the impact of marketing unhealthy foods, lack of physical exercise, and economic hardship.

“To control the global diabetes outbreak, countries need to take urgent action.” “This starts with policies that promote healthy diets, physical activity and, most important, health systems which provide prevention, early diagnosis and treatment,” said Dr Ghebreyesus.