The
one medical disorder that has increased significantly over the past three
decades is type 2 diabetes. In 2014, diabetes statistics reveal that there were
close to 422 million people living on this planet with the disorder. These
numbers are gross underestimates because there are millions more with
prediabetes and others who have no access to healthcare that have never been
accounted for.
The global prevalence of diabetes has almost doubled to 8.5
% in just 2 decades.
Diabetes is a chronic medical disorder that has spread
globally in recent decades. Once it was a disorder found in high-income
countries, but today it is commonly diagnosed in low and middle-income
countries such as China, Thailand and India. If diabetes is not diagnosed
and treated, it can lead to blindness, heart attack, stroke, limb amputations
and kidney failure. Almost 50% of diabetes deaths occur before age 70 and the
cost of care of these diabetics requires billions of dollars.
The key reason why diabetes has flourished in many countries
is because of our changing eating habits, rapid urbanization, and an
increasingly sedentary lifestyle.
The economic impact of diabetes is not minuscule. Globally,
the cost of being a diabetic is financially draining. Once a person has been
diagnosed with diabetes, it also reduces the chance of being employed. This is
more commonly seen in the low-income countries, which frequently do not have
social welfare or unemployment programs. The cost of care is then transferred
to the family members, who themselves are also financially struggling.
In the latest study by East Anglia University, researchers
looked at the global economic impact of diabetes and the numbers are frightening.
The researchers observed the following:
1. In the USA, the highest costs of healthcare were
associated with diabetes, averaging close to $283,000 in a lifetime. These
costs are higher than other nations with similar per capita income levels.
However, in every nation the cost of diabetes care are astronomical.
2. Diabetes often affects the poorest the hardest, who
usually suffer devastating complications and die prematurely.
3. Nearly 66% of all new cases of diabetes occur in low and
middle-income nations like India, China, Egypt and Mexico.
4. Men with diabetes tend to have fewer job opportunities
globally. Once the bread winner is unable to work, the negative consequences
are passed down to the family who can no longer buy food or send children to
school. It begets a cycle of poverty from which there is no escape.
5. The cost of diabetes care increases with time and disease
severity.
What is clear is that diabetes is not just an individual
illness but it has repercussions for the entire country. When millions of
people are affected with the disorder, it places a severe strain on public
health and governmental resources. While in high-income nations, this financial
burden is often felt by the government or insurance plans, in poor countries,
it is the individual or the family who are burdened with the expense.
There is now ample evidence indicating that in most cases, type 2 diabetes can be prevented. This requires a drastic change in lifestyle, performing some type of physical activity, avoiding tobacco and maintaining a normal body weight. Thus, in most western countries, healthcare providers have started to screen for prediabetes and educate the public on prevention.
Most of these preventive programs are relatively cheap and
require education on dietary changes and recommending exercise.
Today, experts in healthcare are urging the governments to
start a program to screen prediabetics and offer education on prevention of
diabetes. For countries that fail to do, the impact of diabetes is most likely
going to not only drain the healthcare system but also lead to a population,
which is disabled and ineffective. The earlier this investment is done in
prevention, the better it will be for both the individual and the country. The
government policy makers should take note of the old adage: “an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
