New Study Exposes Global Diabetes Crisis And Urgent Need For Treatment

New findings published in The Lancet on World Diabetes Day reveal that over 800 million adults worldwide are now living with diabetes. The number of cases was reported more than four times in 1990. The NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) conducted the study with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The finding focuses on the rapid escalation of diabetes cases globally and calls for intense efforts to combat the disease, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where treatment access remains a significant issue.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, “We have seen an alarming rise in diabetes over the past three decades, which reflects the increase in obesity, compounded by the impacts of the marketing of unhealthy food, a lack of physical activity and economic hardship. To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action. This starts with enacting policies that support healthy diets and physical activity, and, most importantly, health systems that provide prevention, early detection and treatment.”

The analysis shows that global diabetes prevalence in adults doubled from 7% in 1990 to 14% in 2022. LMICs have seen the most dramatic increases as high diabetes rates collide with significant treatment gaps. In 2022, nearly 450 million adults aged 30 and older, representing about 59% of those with diabetes, were untreated, a number that has grown 3.5 times since 1990. 90% of those untreated patients live in LMICs, highlighting a sharp global imbalance in diabetes care.

The study reports regional differences in diabetes rates, with approximately 20% of adults aged 18 and older affected in the WHO Southeast Asia and Eastern Mediterranean Regions. These areas, along with the African Region, report the lowest treatment coverage for diabetes, with fewer than 40% of affected adults using glucose-lowering medications.