The prevalence of diabetes in adults have risen from 7% in 1990 to 14% in 2022, according to a groundbreaking new study.
The global study found that the number of individuals with diabetes has risen to approximately 828 million people and this is likely due to an increase in obesity and an aging population.
Joint first author Dr Ranjit Mohan Anjana, President of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in India, said: “Given the disabling and potentially fatal consequences of diabetes, preventing diabetes through healthy diet and exercise is essential for better health throughout the world.”
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In collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), scientists at NCD-RisC used data from more than 140 million adult participants collected from over 1,000 studies conducted around the world.
The study used statistical tools to compare the prevalence and treatment of diabetes in different countries and regions, which highlighted growing health inequalities.
The most significant increases were in low and middle-income countries. More than 50% of people living with diabetes in the world are in just four countries; India (212 million), China (148 million), US (42 million) and Pakistan (36 million).
Among high-income western countries, the US and UK had the highest rates of diabetes.
Dr Anjana said: “Our findings highlight the need to see more ambitious policies, especially in lower-income regions of the world, that restrict unhealthy foods, make healthy foods affordable and improve opportunities to exercise, through measures such as subsidies for healthy foods and free healthy school meals as well as promoting safe places for walking and exercising including free entrance to public parks and fitness centres.”
Although effective medications are available, the scarcity of treatment is also leading to inequalities.
According to the study, treatment rates have improved in higher-income countries where more than 55% of adults living with diabetes were treated in 2022, however rates have not improved in numerous low and middle-income countries.
As a result in 2022, 59% of people living with diabetes aged 30 and over received no treatment.
Prof Majid Ezzati, senior author of the study, explained: “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.”
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Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, said: “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.
“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.”
President of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Chantal Mathieu, added: “Diabetes has reached pandemic proportions, posing a profound threat to public health and economies alike.”
She believes preventative strategies, greater access to screening and support schemes to help people manage their diabetes needs to be introduced by policymakers.
