TEHRAN – The national diabetes week is being held from November 13-19 with the theme of “diabetes care, now more than ever.”

In Iran, the latest data published in 2016 shows that some 11 percent of the people aged over 25 (around 5.5 million persons) are suffering from diabetes, ISNA quoted Alireza Mahdavi, a health ministry official, as saying on Sunday.

Taking the prevalence of coronavirus in society, we expect that diabetes will affect more people in the future, he added.

The prevalence of diabetes among people has increased by 95 percent from 1990 to 2020, Baqer Larijani, head of the Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, has said.

Studies show that some 14 percent of Iranians aged over 20 years are suffering from diabetes type 2, IRNA quoted Larijani as saying.

More than 90 percent of people affected by diabetes have pretty good access to physicians, medicine, laboratories, and insurance services, he noted, adding that the figure is about 50 percent on the average in the world.

In September, Larijani said that over 8.5 percent of the total health expenditures of the country are spent on diabetes.

“Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71 percent of all deaths globally.

Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory diseases are the cause of more than 80 percent of premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases. Unhealthy diet, smoking, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption are the main related risk factors.

Reducing risk factors as well as screening, early diagnosis and timely treatment of non-communicable diseases can reduce a large part of their damage,” he said.

In Iran, 25 percent of people are not aware of their diabetes. The figure is 50 percent in the world and 60 percent in West Asia and North Africa region.

World Diabetes Day

World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006. It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

Every year, the World Diabetes Day campaign focuses on a dedicated theme that runs for one or more years. The theme for World Diabetes Day 2021-23 is Access to Diabetes Care – If Not Now, When?

Facts and figures

Nearly 463 million adults (1-in-11) were living with diabetes in 2019. The number of people living with diabetes is expected to rise to 578 million by 2030.

Two-thirds of people with diabetes live in urban areas and three-quarters are of working age.

One in 5 people with diabetes (136 million) is above 65 years old.

Diabetes caused 4.2 million deaths in 2019. Diabetes was responsible for at least $760 billion in health expenditure in 2019 – 10% of the global total spent on healthcare.

MG