Diabetes claimed around four million two hundred thousand lives last year – three times as many as from COVID-19, yet this news almost goes unnoticed.
Diabetes has not been nicknamed ‘The Silent Killer’ for no reason when globally there are over 463 million people who live with the condition.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) warns that one in ten of us could have diabetes by 2045. That’s over 700 million people.
Even today, the number of sufferers would, if they all lived in the same country, make up the third largest population in the world.
Yet, there are many actions that can be taken to reduce the numbers and save lives.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals include a pledge to ensure healthy lives for everyone and diabetes is listed as one of the priority conditions where simple actions could have an enormous beneficial effect.
“Too few countries are delivering on these goals,” says PDGN Secretary General, Adrian Sanders. “Our members can play a critical role in addressing this by holding
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Inside this issue – COVID & Diabetes Link, WHO data on NCD deaths, Obesity Driving Diabetes rise, Sugar Tax News, and lots of Advocacy Action ideas.
Continued from page one their Government’s feet to the fire to meet the goals signed up to in their country’s name.”
The World Health Organisation calls for measures, such as simple glucose level tests, to improve diagnosis, and regular screening for damage to eyes, feet and kidneys and blood pressure tests to reduce the chances of expensive complications occurring later.
With one death every two seconds among 30-70 year-olds from non-communicable diseases including diabetes there is no time to lose raising the level of advocacy for prevention, early diagnosis and the best treatments wherever a person lives.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/diabetes-silent-epidemic-world-health