New global compact to drive down diabetes deaths
Increasing access to affordable insulin is among the objectives of the new Global Diabetes Compact, launched by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The development comes as risk of early death from diabetes is increasing, underscoring why countries must tackle the disease and bring treatment to all who need it, 100 years after the discovery of insulin.
“The need to take urgent action on diabetes is clearer than ever,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General said.
“The number of people with diabetes has quadrupled in the last 40 years. It is the only major non-communicable disease for which the risk of dying early is going up, rather than down. And a high proportion of people who are severely ill in hospital with Covid-19 have diabetes.”
More than 420 million people worldwide live with diabetes, a group of chronic diseases characterized by elevated blood sugar, which can cause damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.
The most common is type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar.
The global compact focuses on several priorities. Among the most urgent is increasing access to diabetes diagnostic tools and medicines, particularly insulin, in low and middle-income countries.
Roughly half of all adults with type 2 diabetes remain undiagnosed, according to WHO. Additionally, half of all people with the condition do not get the insulin they need, putting them at risk of irreversible complications such as early death, amputation and sight loss.