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According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report on diabetes, 463 million people have diabetes in the world and more than 19 million people in the African Region with a projection of 47 million by 2045 in Africa.
The total adult population is 15,452,100 with a prevalence of diabetes in adults of 1.8%, while the total number of cases of diabetes in adults is 281,100.
The number of people with diabetes increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
The global prevalence of diabetes among adults over 18 years of age increased from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014.
Between 2000 and 2016, there was a 5% increase in premature mortality from diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes has increased faster in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, and lower limb amputation.
In 2016, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Another 2.2 million deaths were attributed to hyperglycemia in 2012.
The premature death rate from diabetes decreased from 2000 to 2010, but then increased in 2010-2016.
In lower-middle-income countries, the premature death rate from diabetes increased in both periods.
Almost half of all deaths attributable to high blood glucose levels occur before age 70.
The WHO estimates that diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2016.
A healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight, and avoiding tobacco use are ways to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
Hyperglycemia, or increased blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and, over time, leads to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
The health impacts of diabetes are that it can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves over time. Adults with diabetes are at two to three times the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the possibility of foot ulcers, infection, and eventual need for limb amputation.
Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. Diabetes is the cause of 2.6% of global blindness. Diabetes is one of the main causes of kidney failure.
In terms of prevention, simple lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people must achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.
People should be physically active: get at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate intensity activity most days (more activity is required to control weight), eat a healthy diet, avoid sugar and saturated fat; and avoid tobacco use: smoking increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Diabetes can be treated and its consequences can be avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication, and regular detection and treatment for complications. Early diagnosis can be achieved by relatively inexpensive blood sugar tests.
World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and WHO in response to growing concern about the growing health threat posed by diabetes.
WDD became an official United Nations (UN) Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nations Resolution 61/225. It is commemorated each year on November 14, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin together with Charles Best in 1922.
The WDD campaign aims to be the platform to advance IDF advocacy efforts throughout the year and a global engine to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted action to tackle diabetes as a critical global health problem.
The theme for World Diabetes Day 2020 is “The Nurse and Diabetes”.
The new report urges governments to ensure that people can make healthy choices and that health systems can diagnose, treat and care for people with diabetes. It encourages all of us as individuals to eat healthy, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain.
