International study published in The Lancet shows more than 400 million adults with diabetes remain untreated
The research, co-authored by professors from the University of Coimbra, shows that the global prevalence of diabetes is increasing and concludes that more than half of the 828 million adults diagnosed in 2022 did not receive treatment.
The global prevalence of diabetes in adults (type 1 and type 2 combined) rose from 7% to 14% between 1990 and 2022, with the greatest increase in low- and middle-income countries. Of the 828 million people diagnosed in 2022, it is estimated that more than half (around 450 million) remain untreated. These are the findings of an international study co-authored by researchers from the University of Coimbra and published on 14 November, World Diabetes Day, in the prestigious journal The Lancet.
This study highlights the growing global inequalities in diabetes, with treatment rates stagnating in many low- and middle-income countries, where the number of adults with diabetes has increased dramatically," says Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues, Professor at the Faculty of Sports Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra (UC) and one of the authors of the paper, along with Lèlita C. Santos and Luísa M. Macieira, professors at the UC Faculty of Medicine.
The analysis, conducted by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), provides detailed information on the evolution of global diabetes rates, which have doubled over this period in both men (from 6.8% in 1990 to 14.3% in 2022) and women (from 6.9% to 13.9%).
With the added impact of population growth and ageing, this equates to about 828 million adults with diabetes in 2022, "an increase of about 630 million compared with 1990," say the authors of the study, which is the first global analysis of trends in both diabetes rates and treatment coverage based on data from more than 140 million adults in more than 1000 studies covering populations in all countries.
The global analysis of the data showed that, of the 828 million adults with diabetes in 2022, more than a quarter (212 million) lived in India, and around a sixth (148 million) in China. These were followed by the USA (42 million), Pakistan (36 million), Indonesia (25 million), and Brazil (22 million) as the countries with the highest numbers of people with diabetes.
At the same time, the article points out that only people living in high-income countries in North America, Australasia, Central and Western Europe and parts of Latin America, East Asia and the Pacific have significant improvements in diabetes care between 1990 and 2022, while global inequalities in diabetes treatment have worsened.
Lead author Professor Majid Ezzati, from Imperial College London, said: "Our study highlights growing global inequalities in diabetes, with treatment rates stagnating in many low- and middle-income countries, while the number of adults with diabetes is increasing dramatically: by 2022, nearly 450 million adults with diabetes worldwide remained untreated. This is especially concerning as people with diabetes tend to be younger in low-income countries and, in the absence of effective treatment, are at risk of life-long complications – including amputation, heart disease, kidney damage or vision loss - or in some cases, premature death.” The article is available here.