On the occasion of World Diabetes Day, celebrated on Tuesday under the theme “access to diabetes care”, the sobering fact that both the number of cases and deaths from this Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) is accelerating globally is cause for much concern and indeed, concerted action.
Between 2000 and 2019, there was a three per cent increase in age-standardised mortality rates from diabetes. In lower middle-income countries, the mortality rate due to diabetes increased 13 per cent, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). In 2019, diabetes and kidney disease due to diabetes caused an estimated two million deaths. By contrast, the probability of dying from any one of the four main NCDs – cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases or diabetes – between the ages of 30 and 70 decreased by 22 per cent globally between 2000 and 2019.
Some 537 million adults live with the chronic disease. That translates to 1 in 10 adults globally. This number is predicted to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. More than 95 per cent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes is type-2 diabetes, formerly called non-insulin dependent, or adult onset – which is often preventable. Until recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults, but it is now also occurring increasingly frequently in children.
And as is true for many health-related conditions, those who can least afford it are disproportionately affected, with more than 75 per cent of adults with diabetes living in low- and middle-income countries.
When we look at Latin America and the Caribbean, the picture is even more dismal, since the factors that contribute to developing type-2 diabetes include being overweight and not getting enough exercise – and cases of obesity, particularly in children, are climbing in the region where the population, as a whole, is increasingly sedentary.
According to the “Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023” report, the region experienced an increase in the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 between 2000 and 2022 and the prevalence of obesity in adults between 2000 and 2016, in both cases exceeding the global average.
Between 2020 and 2022, in the context of the pandemic, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age increased slightly from 8.3 per cent to 8.6 per cent, with a more significant increase in South America, a milder increase in Mesoamerica and remaining stable in the Caribbean. In 2022, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age was 9.7 per cent in South America, 6.7 per cent in Mesoamerica, and 6.6 per cent in the Caribbean.
“Overweight and obesity are a growing challenge, responsible for approximately 2.8 million deaths” from noncommunicable diseases in 2021 in the Americas, said Dr Jarbas Barbosa, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Director. “In the last 50 years, overweight and obesity rates tripled, affecting 62.5 per cent of the population in the region,” he added. Considering the regional prevalence of overweight in children and adolescents is at 33.6 per cent, “it is urgent to advance in the transformation of food systems to ensure healthy eating for all”.
Yet another reason why it is imperative that we achieve and surpass the “25 by 25” regional food security goal set by Caricom Heads of Government.
