Diabetes kills 3.2 million people each year, according to WHO

Diabetes is the cause of 3.2 million deaths each year worldwide, according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) presented at a press conference, and that number should continue to increase.
There is cause for alarm!
This is a real wake What cry launched by WHO and the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF), with supporting figures. According to their new estimates, six people die every minute in the world because of diabetes or diabetes-related complication!

Thus, not only the number of victims of diabetes already exceeds that of AIDS (estimated at 3 million) but the outlook is bleak: the number of diabetic patients is expected to double in 25 years, reaching 366 million in 2030.

This is the type 2 diabetes which is the main culprit: it is both the type of diabetes the most common in the world (it represents more than 90% of diabetes cases) and that the frequency increases more recent years.

Like other diabetes mellitus, it is responsible for cardiovascular complications and serious kidney.

A global epidemic
The epidemic of diabetes, long considered a disease of the rich countries, is now spreading faster in poor countries (150% by 2030). In India, for example, the number of diabetic patients will increase from 32 million today to 80 million by 2030.

Worse, while in rich countries diabetes is rather advanced states in poor countries age, diabetes expresses in people still economically active.

Thus, more than one in four deaths is attributable to diabetes in the 35-64 years in the Middle East and parts of the Pacific. "The number of diabetic patients is currently increasing dramatically and has the potential to overwhelm the health systems of countries," said Dr Robert Beaglehole, Director, Office of chronic diseases at WHO.

If it is not possible to accurately predict the rate of death to come, WHO officials say it is likely to increase in parallel with the increase in the number of cases.

Prevention is possible but unknown
However, although "the outbreak of diabetes deaths is similar to what we have known for HIV / AIDS, the problem is largely unknown," said the two organizations at the press conference.

However, unlike other public health problems, type 2 diabetes can be prevented by improving his lifestyle in terms of diet and exercise. Once installed diabetes, complications can in turn be prevented by appropriate treatment.

This is why the WHO and the IDF jointly launched through the World Diabetes Foundation they fund, a public awareness campaign called "Diabetes Action Now" to countries and communities with low or middle incomes.