| World faces a "devastating"
diabetes epidemic - WHO
By Richard Waddington
GENEVA (Reuters) - The world faces a devastating diabetes epidemic,
with the annual death toll already exceeding the three million killed
by AIDS and set to rise, the World Health Organisation warned on
Wednesday.
Issuing a cry of alarm about the disease, the WHO and the International
Diabetes Foundation said the number of diabetics worldwide would
more than double to 366 million by 2030, from some 171 million at
present.
Although often thought a rich country risk, it is in poorer countries
that diabetes is growing fastest, with cases seen rising 150% over
the next 25 years. In India, for example, the number would leap
from 32 million to 80 million.
Furthermore, while in rich states diabetes affects mainly older
people, in poorer countries incidence is surging among those still
economically active, the two organisations said.
"The number is increasing dramatically and has the potential
to overwhelm countries' health systems," WHO director for chronic
disease Dr Robert Beaglehole told a news conference.
WHO and the Foundation said they were launching a campaign to raise
awareness, because, unlike some other health threats, type 2 diabetes
could be prevented by improved eating and exercise habits.
"It is determined environmentally and therefore it can be
reversed," Beaglehole said.
LARGELY UNRECOGNISED
Some 3.2 million people died in 2000, the latest year for which
figures were available, of ailments brought on by diabetes such
as cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.
This compares with three million deaths from AIDS.
"The burden of premature death from diabetes is similar to
that of HIV/AIDS, yet the problem is largely unrecognised,"
the two organisations said in a statement.
Although it was not possible to predict accurately the future death
rate, WHO officials said it would probably mirror the increase in
overall cases.
The per capita death toll was highest in the Middle East and parts
of the Pacific, with more than one in four deaths in the 35-64 age
range attributed to diabetes.
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