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Diabetes cases rise to record worldwide
Source: Agencies |
November 15, 2012, Thursday
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DIABETES is running at record levels worldwide and half the people estimated to have the disease are, as yet, undiagnosed, a report said yesterday.
The number of people living with diabetes is now put at 371 million, up from 366 million a year ago, with numbers expected to reach 552 million by 2030, the International Diabetes Federation said.
Diabetes is often viewed as a Western problem, since the vast majority of people have type 2 disease which is linked to obesity and lack of exercise.
But the disease is also spreading rapidly in poorer countries, alongside urbanization, and four out of five diabetics now live in low and middle-income countries, opening up new opportunities and challenges for the drug industry.
China alone has 92.3 million people with diabetes, more than any other nation in the world, and the hidden burden is also enormous in sub-Saharan Africa where limited health care means less than a fifth of cases get diagnosed.
The IDF estimates that, globally, 187 million people do not yet know they are suffering from the condition.
Diabetics have inadequate blood sugar control which can lead to serious complications, including nerve and kidney damage and blindness. Worldwide deaths from the disease are at 4.8 million a year.
The disease is one of several chronic conditions - along with cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases - that health care campaigners want included in the next set of global development goals, which will replace outgoing Millennium Developments Goals in 2015.
For the international drugmakers, diabetes offers riches. Global sales of diabetes medicines expected to reach US$48-US$53 billion by 2016, up from US$39.2 billion in 2011, said research firm IMS Health.
The number of people living with diabetes is now put at 371 million, up from 366 million a year ago, with numbers expected to reach 552 million by 2030, the International Diabetes Federation said.
Diabetes is often viewed as a Western problem, since the vast majority of people have type 2 disease which is linked to obesity and lack of exercise.
But the disease is also spreading rapidly in poorer countries, alongside urbanization, and four out of five diabetics now live in low and middle-income countries, opening up new opportunities and challenges for the drug industry.
China alone has 92.3 million people with diabetes, more than any other nation in the world, and the hidden burden is also enormous in sub-Saharan Africa where limited health care means less than a fifth of cases get diagnosed.
The IDF estimates that, globally, 187 million people do not yet know they are suffering from the condition.
Diabetics have inadequate blood sugar control which can lead to serious complications, including nerve and kidney damage and blindness. Worldwide deaths from the disease are at 4.8 million a year.
The disease is one of several chronic conditions - along with cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases - that health care campaigners want included in the next set of global development goals, which will replace outgoing Millennium Developments Goals in 2015.
For the international drugmakers, diabetes offers riches. Global sales of diabetes medicines expected to reach US$48-US$53 billion by 2016, up from US$39.2 billion in 2011, said research firm IMS Health.
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