Over the past 35 years, the number of people with diabetes worldwide has quadrupled. The prevalence of the lifestyle disease rose especially fast in low and middle-income countries, says the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Some 422mn people lived with diabetes in 2014, compared to 108mn in 1980, the UN health agency reported one day before World Health Day, which is focused on fighting diabetes this year.
The explosion in prevalence was because of worldwide changes “in the way people eat, move and live,” WHO said, in its first-ever global report on the disease.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon marked World Health Day with a strong call for stepping up global efforts to halt the rise in diabetes and improve the lives of those living with this dangerous but preventable and treatable disease.
“We can limit the spread and impact of diabetes by promoting and adopting healthier lifestyles, especially among young people,” he said in his message on the Day, urging people to eat better and be physically active.
Noting both the health and macroeconomic damage caused by the growing diabetes epidemic, WHO chief Margaret Chan called for a co-ordinated, holistic response.
This should include greater efforts to curb smoking, a push to entrench physical activity in education systems and working with food companies to promote availability of healthier products.
As with obesity, WHO has stressed that putting excessive blame on individuals for eating too much or not exercising enough ignores several key factors, including the obstacles to eating healthily in some societies.
Complicating the response in lower-income countries is the limited availability and high cost of insulin in many areas, WHO said.
Between 2002 and 2013, the average price of insulin in the United States tripled from $231 to $736 a year per patient. Insulin isn’t necessary for all diabetics – some living with type 2 diabetes only need medication to stimulate their body’s production of insulin. But those with type 1 diabetes truly can’t live without it.
The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) will hold an Accountable Care Forum during its 2016 conference, which is taking place on November 29-30 in Doha.
The forum will outline the benefits of using an integrated accountable care system to assist patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as diabetes, and who require rigorous, all-encompassing treatment plans. It will also delve into the scope of implementing an accountable healthcare plan, including the identification of a suitable cohort in Qatar for a pilot study. The study will involve a pool of people aged 18 and older who have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, and those who are at high risk of developing the disease.
In Qatar, local leaders have come together in an accountable care model to prevent diabetes and its complications. This year’s forum will look at how policymakers can promote health innovation in their own communities through accountable care.
While rates of cancer and heart disease dominate debate, the incidence of diabetes is quietly soaring.
It is time for the healthcare providers and the government to develop a co-ordinated plan of prevention and treatment.
Viewpoint
