And, while it was once more confined to richer countries, the 2016 World Health Organization report warns that diabetes is now rising fastest in middle and lower-income countries. “We know what needs to be done, but we can not let it evolve like it does because it has a huge impact on people’s health, on families and on society”. “This will reduce the pressure on our overburdened health infrastructure”, said Suneela Thatte, President, ISCR. While it is free for people with diabetes in the UK, the price of insulin is increasing in the United States, and many people in low-income countries struggle to afford it.
Advertisement
Most of the people are unware about the fact that they are suffereing from diabetes.
Diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t produce or properly use insulin, a hormone in the body responsible for creating glucose.
It is estimated that about 350 million people worldwide have diabetes, a number likely to more than double in the next 20 years.
Ezzati added, “Obesity is the most important risk factor for type 2 diabetes and our attempts to control rising rates of obesity have so far not proved successful”.
One of its recommendations in fighting diabetes is prioritizing the prevention of people from becoming overweight and obese starting from birth to early childhood.
However, there are two forms of diabetes that is Type 1 and Type 2.
“Access to insulin is a matter of life or death for many people with diabetes”.
“If we are to make any headway in halting the rise in diabetes, we need to rethink our daily lives: to eat healthily, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain”, said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
I would like to reiterate the commitment of WHO and also urge the Government and development partners working in the health to continue improving diagnostic services for diabetes, and to ensure regular availability of insulin and other oral hypoglycaemic agents for treatment. The disease can cause blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
Advertisement
The WHO’s “Global Report on Diabetes” released Wednesday said diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths in 2012, and another 2.2 million deaths were caused by higher-than-optimal blood glucose levels. “Improvements in prevention and management, together with better surveillance, should be prioritized in response to this call”.
