One in 11 adults worldwide lives with diabetes, and those who are women face unique and multiple barriers to accessing cost-effective diabetes prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and care, particularly in developing countries. Those are the findings of the 8th Diabetes Atlas, released on 14 November, World Diabetes Day.
425 million adults are currently living with diabetes, 10 million more than in 2015, according to Atlas author, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Diabetes, an NCD, is set to affect almost 700 million people by 2045, and over 350 million adults are currently at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent form.
“This represents nothing less than a global health tsunami that is undermining the health and productivity of populations and crippling economies,” said NCD Alliance CEO Katie Dain. “Governments need to wake up and commit to take urgent action against diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases, ahead of the 2018 UN High-level Meeting on NCDs.”
