2023-06-28 17:00:00
Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high blood sugar levels that can lead to “serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The problem is that the number of diabetics continues to increase in the world. Thus there were 108 million in 1980 before rising to 422 million in 2014, then to 529 million in 2021. And according to estimates by researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine, their number will be 1.3 billion in 2050!
Currently, the prevalence of diabetes is 6.1% of the world’s population. Even if all countries should be impacted, it is the most precarious populations who risk paying the highest price.
Thus, prevalence rates are expected to reach 16.8% in North Africa and the Middle East and 11.3% in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2050, compared to approximately 9.8% worldwide.
A revealer of inequalities
In 2021, an estimated 96% of diabetes cases were due to type 2 diabetes, which is linked to lifestyle, overweight and obesity. It is therefore a form of preventable diabetes.
It is also often advised to lose weight, to practice physical activity and to be detected early to guarantee better care. “But this approach fails to take into account the conditions in which people are born and live and which create disparities around the world,” explain the authors of the study.
Indeed, effective weight loss programs seem difficult to implement on a large scale, and “many health care systems are not ready to intervene early in diabetes”, note the researchers.
Furthermore, although drugs have shown promising results, their costs put them out of reach for many patients around the world.
To note : In April 2021, the WHO released the Global Diabetes Compact. An initiative to sustainably improve the prevention and management of diabetes worldwide, with a particular focus on supporting low- and middle-income countries.
Source : The Lancet
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