800 mn people living with diabetes, rates double in 30 years: Study in Lancet

A new study by Lancet found that the number of people suffering from diabetes has doubled over the past 30 years to more than 800 million worldwide. The groundbreaking international study found that the rates of diabetes in adults doubled from about 7 per cent to about 14 per cent from 1990 to 2022.

There has been the largest increase in cases in low and middle-income countries. What makes the report significant is the fact that the study is the first t global analysis of diabetes rates and treatment in all countries. Scientists at NCD-RisC in collaboration with the World Health Organization used data from more than 140 million people aged 18 or older from more than 1,000 studies in different countries, The Guardian reported.

The Lancet study also pointed to the growing health inequalities across the world. The researchers noted that more than half of global diabetes cases were concentrated in four countries. Out of those with diabetes in 2022, more than a quarter (212 million) lived in India, 148 million were in China, 42 million were in the US and 36 million in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Brazil and Indonesia accounted for 25 million and 22 million cases, respectively.

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The increase in population and obesity contributed to the rise

In some of the countries in the Pacific islands, Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa over 25 per cent of the male and female population have diabetes. In contrast to this, the diabetes rates in 2022 were as low as 2-4% for women in France, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden, and 3-5% for men in Denmark, France, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Spain and Rwanda.

The researchers mentioned that the increase in cases of obesity, alongside an ageing global population means growing numbers of people are at greater risk of developing diabetes. “Given the disabling and potentially fatal consequences of diabetes, preventing diabetes through healthy diet and exercise is essential for better health throughout the world. Dr Ranjit Mohan Anjana, the joint first author and president of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in India, told The Guardian. 

“Given the disabling and potentially fatal consequences of diabetes, preventing diabetes through healthy diet and exercise is essential for better health throughout the world," he added. Lacent mentioned that despite the off-patent glucose-lowering medications, lack of treatment is also fuelling inequalities.

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Meanwhile, many higher-income nations have witnessed vast improvements in treatment rates. The same can’t be said about lower-income nations. In these circumstances, more than half of adults with diabetes – 445 million (59%) – aged 30 and over did not receive treatment in 2022.

“Our study highlights widening global inequalities in diabetes, with treatment rates stagnating in many low and middle-income countries where numbers of adults with diabetes are drastically increasing. This is especially concerning as people with diabetes tend to be younger in low-income countries and, in the absence of effective treatment, are at risk of life-long complications – including amputation, heart disease, kidney damage or vision loss – or in some cases, premature death," a senior author of the study, Prof Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, said after the release of the report.

WHO chief raises concern

While responding to the latest findings, the WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus raised an alarm about the current situation. “We have seen an alarming rise in diabetes over the past three decades, which reflects the increase in obesity, compounded by the impacts of the marketing of unhealthy food, a lack of physical activity, and economic hardship," he said.

“To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action. This starts with enacting policies that support healthy diets and physical activity and, most importantly, health systems that provide prevention, early detection, and treatment," he added.

With inputs from agencies.