Diabetes is the largest health emergency of 21st century. It is affecting people in their most productive age causing disability, premature death and draining finances. In the year 2017, 425 million people in the world in age group 20-79 years (adults) had diabetes. This number is expected to rise by around 50% in the year 2045. Diabetes in children is also on the rise. It is no longer a disease of old people; it is affecting all age groups children, adults, pregnant women and elderly. Diabetes is no longer a disease of the rich or of city-dwellers. It is affecting both the rich and poor, urban and rural dwellers.
Another 212 million people in the world are undiagnosed. This makes the total number of people with diabetes 637 million, which is around 9 percent of world population. Diabetes if untreated can cause complications in various organs of the body like heart, eye, kidney, foot amputation and can even cause death. Complications in diabetes can lead to hospitalisation and increasing healthcare expenditure. Number of people dying due to diabetes is more than the number of deaths due to AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria combined. We are facing a big health challenge globally, which is draining our financial resources.
Therefore, diabetes is affecting people of all ages, rich and poor, urban and rural dwellers, a major cause of deaths across the globe and is draining our finances. This makes it very important for us to understand the disease. Physicians/doctors/scientists are the experts but we, as common people should know a bit about this killer disease. This post will help us understand how big a problem diabetes is and why governments and experts across the world are raising alarm bells.
Diabetes Support Group 