More than 800 million adults have diabetes worldwide – almost twice as many as previous estimates have suggested – and more than half of those aged over 30 who have the condition are not receiving treatment, according to a new study. In 2022, there were around 828 million people aged 18 years and older with type 1 and type 2 diabetes worldwide, the study published in The Lancet found. Among adults aged 30 years and older, 445 million, or 59% of them, were not receiving treatment, the authors said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has previously estimated that around 422 million people have diabetes, a chronic metabolic disease involving blood sugar levels, which can damage the heart, blood vessels, nerves and other organs if untreated. The global diabetes rate has doubled since 1990 from around 7% to 14%, the study suggested, driven largely by rising cases in low- and middle-income countries. But although there are far more cases, treatment rates in those regions have barely increased, the authors said, while things have improved in some higher-income countries – leading to a widening treatment gap.
In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 5%-10% of those estimated to have diabetes were getting treatment, said Jean Claude Mbanya, professor at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon. Treating diabetes, either with insulin or drugs, can be expensive. "A huge number [are] at risk of serious health complications," he said.
The study was done by the NCD Risk Fact.