A new study by Lancet found that the number of people suffering from diabetes has doubled over the past 30 years to more than 800 million worldwide. The groundbreaking international study found that the rates of diabetes in adults doubled from about 7 per cent to about 14 per cent from 1990 to 2022. There has been the largest increase in cases in low and middle-income countries.
What makes the report significant is the fact that the study is the first t global analysis of diabetes rates and treatment in all countries. Scientists at NCD-RisC in collaboration with the World Health Organization used data from more than 140 million people aged 18 or older from more than 1,000 studies in different countries, The Guardian reported. The Lancet study also pointed to the growing health inequalities across the world.
The researchers noted that more than half of global diabetes cases were concentrated in four countries. Out of those with diabetes in 2022, more than a quarter (212 million) lived in India, 148 million were in China, 42 million were in the US and 36 million in Pakistan. Meanwhile, Brazil and Indonesia accounted for 25 million and 22 million cases, respectively.
In some of the countries in the Pacific islands, Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa over 25 per cent of the male and female population have diabetes. In contrast to this, the diabetes rates in 2022 were as low as 2-4% for women in France, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden, and 3-5% for men in Denmark, Fran.