World Diabetes Day 2022

Worldwide, the number of people living with diabetes (PLWD) has increased from 108 million to 420 million in the last thirty years; 62 million people with diabetes are in the Region of the Americas. This number has increased over three-fold in the Region since 1980 and could be even higher since 40% of PLWD are unaware of their condition and undiagnosed.

The burden of disease associated with diabetes is enormous and growing: in just 20 years, mortality from diabetes has increased by 70% worldwide. In the Region of the Americas, it is the sixth leading cause of death and the seventh leading cause of years of life lost prematurely.

In the Region, diabetes (including diabetes-related kidney disease) causes the loss due to premature death of more than eight million years of life each year. Nearly half of premature deaths in the Americas are due to diabetes. In just 20 years, the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to diabetes increased by 88%. This increase reaches 97% in men. Diabetes is currently the second leading cause of DALYs, preceded only by ischemic heart disease.

People living with diabetes are at higher risk of severe illness and death from other diseases:

• Diabetes is among the top five health-related risk factors for tuberculosis.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in people ages 40 to 74 years.
• Depression is twice as common in PLWD than in those without diabetes.
• The stress and anxiety produced by living with diabetes negatively impact the disease's evolution due to insufficient self-care, lack of adherence to treatment, and episodes of hypo or hyperglycemia.
• People living with diabetes have up to three times the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, or cancer.
• People living with diabetes have double the risk of developing a severe condition and of dying from COVID-19.

Keeping blood glucose levels well controlled lowers the risk of severe illness or death; unfortunately, 50% to 70% of PLWD have uncontrolled blood glucose levels.

What can you do to control diabetes? 

Halting the rise in diabetes is possible and goes hand in hand with implementing strategies such as:

• Prevention of diabetes and its risk factors, especially overweight/obesity and insufficient physical activity.
• Screening for diabetes in the general population and closely monitoring the population at risk.
• Improving the diagnostic capacity of health services for diabetes.
• Continuous monitoring of people living with diabetes.
• The capacity for referral and care at the secondary health care level.
• Access to quality diabetes education, which guarantees adequate training for the healthcare team, people living with diabetes, their immediate environment, their caregivers, and society in general.
• Access to essential diabetes medicines and technologies, including insulin.
• Information systems for data collection for monitoring and surveillance of diabetes.

The change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it essential to integrate evidence-based digital solutions, such as telemedicine and educational and monitoring applications in diabetes health care.

Diabetes care should be part of preparedness and response to health emergencies. People living with diabetes must be guaranteed the uninterrupted availability of their medicines in situations of this type.