india-accounts-for-25-of-global-diabetes-cases

An estimated 828 million individuals worldwide were living with diabetes in 2022, with more than a quarter in India, according to a study published in The Lancet journal ahead of World Diabetes Day, which is celebrated annually on November 14.  

 

This 828 million figure is more than four times the amount reported in 1990, with the most significant growth occurring in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), as stated by researchers from the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC).  

 

From 1990 to 2022, the rate of diabetes treatment remained stagnant at low levels in many of these LMICs, where cases of the disease dramatically rose, leading to 445 million adults aged 30 and older with the condition globally (nearly 60%) who did not receive treatment in 2022, the researchers noted.  

 

Of the 828 million affected, India accounted for over a quarter (212 million). China had an additional 148 million, while the United States, Pakistan, and Brazil were home to 42 million, 36 million, and 22 million people, respectively, according to the findings.  

 

NCD-RisC is a worldwide network, coordinated by the World Health Organisation, consisting of over 1,500 researchers and practitioners who provide insights into non-communicable disease risk factors across different countries.  

 

Moreover, in 2022, nearly one-third of the 445 million adults (133 million) with untreated diabetes resided in India.

 

"Our findings suggest there is an increasing share of people with diabetes, especially with untreated diabetes, living in low- and middle-income countries," said author Jean Claude Mbanya, University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon.

 

"Most people with untreated diabetes will not have received a diagnosis, therefore increasing detection of diabetes must be an urgent priority in countries with low levels of treatment," he said.

 

Undiagnosed diabetes has been linked with complications such as diabetic retinopathy -- when high levels of blood sugar damage the eye's retina (which is sensitive to light) -- which can potentially cause vision loss and blindness.

 

A 2022 study, published in the International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries, found that in India, 12.5 per cent of people with diabetes (30 lakh) had diabetic retinopathy -- of which 4 per cent were said to have vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy -- and therefore, are at an "immediate risk of vision loss".