More than 800 million adults have diabetes globally, many untreated: study

More than 800 million adults have diabetes worldwide – almost twice as many as previous estimates have suggested – and more than half of those aged over 30 who have the condition are not receiving treatment, according to a new study.

In 2022, there were around 828 million people aged 18 years and older with type 1 and type 2 diabetes worldwide, the study published in The Lancet found. Among adults aged 30 years and older, 445 million, or 59 per cent of them, were not receiving treatment, the authors said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously estimated that around 422 million people have diabetes, a chronic metabolic disease involving blood sugar levels, which can damage the heart, blood vessels, nerves and other organs if untreated.

The global diabetes rate has doubled since 1990 from around 7 per cent to 14 per cent, the study suggested, driven largely by rising cases in low- and middle-income countries. But although there are far more cases, treatment rates in those regions have barely increased, the authors said, while things have improved in some higher-income countries – leading to a widening treatment gap.

In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 5-10 per cent of those estimated to have diabetes were getting treatment, said Jean Claude Mbanya, professor at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon. Treating diabetes, either with insulin or drugs, can be expensive.

“A huge number at risk of serious health complications,” he said.