THE RISING PREVALENCE OF DIABETES IN EUROPE
by Dominic Tyer
The condition is still an unstoppable epidemic
Hyperbole is common when discussing diabetes but vivid imagery that
paints the condition as a ticking time bomb or epidemic is a necessary part of
understanding the scale of the problem.
Not only is it responsible for one in 10 deaths in
Europe, it is also the leading cause of blindness, amputations, kidney failure
and stroke, providing devastating blows to both healthcare systems and the
patients they serve. It kills more people than breast cancer and prostate
cancer put together and costs society more than all cancers combined.
If things were standing still they would be bad
enough, but the figures continue to rise. By 2035, it's thought that one in 10
people (some 70 million) in Europe will have diabetes. The increasing numbers
of those with type 2 diabetes is linked to the rise in obesity as well as the
region's ageing population. Added to this is the unexplained increase of type 1
diabetes in children.
"No country in Europe has managed to prevent the
diabetes epidemic from rising".
Even with numbers of this magnitude, there is what's known as the 'rule of halves' to contend with when it comes to unmet needs. Up to half of all cases of diabetes are undiagnosed; of those that are diagnosed, half do not achieve adequate glucose control; and so it continues, with that down steps in outcomes that, if followed through imply that only around 6% of people diabetes (type 1 and 2) are estimated to have well-managed diabetes and desired health outcomes.
The scale of the challenge then can be seen in the
burden of diabetes-related complications:
- Stroke: Risk is up to four times higher with diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease: Risk is up to four times higher with diabetes
- Diabetic retinopathy: This is the leading cause of blindness in working age adults
- Diabetic nephropathy: This is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease.
“No country in Europe has managed to prevent the
diabetes epidemic from rising,” says João Nabais, president of IDF Europe. “We
need to make sure governments across the region no longer question the need to
adopt comprehensive policies to prevent, diagnose and give access to quality
diabetes treatment to those who need it.”
Over the summer IDF Europe took leadership of the
Policy Action Network on Diabetes (ExPAND). This was formed in 2011 by a
coalition of parliamentarians, leading diabetes organisations and experts from
across Europe. Its central aim is to build a strong network of parliamentarians
to act on diabetes at local, national and European levels.
UK MP, and ExPAND chair, Adrian Sanders explained: “By
engaging with parliamentarians across Europe, we are confident we can raise the
profile of diabetes as a public health priority, exchange best practice and
provide evidence to trigger concrete political action to reverse the diabetes
epidemic.”
The network wants to see action on several fronts:
- Prevention
- Keeping those with diabetes healthy
- Extra responsibility for the care vulnerable groups like the young and elderly.
Against such a stark picture it is heartening to hear
that recent years have seen some signs of improvement in European diabetes care
- even if there are still mountains to climb.
Health Consumer Powerhouse, which monitors and
compares healthcare systems among 35 countries - including all EU member
states, published the latest version of its Euro Diabetes Index in September.
It came six years after the report was last issued (in 2008 its forward was
titled 'killing neglect'). This year Johan Hjertqvist, founder and president of
the Health Consumer Powerhouse, said they found more of a mixed picture.
“The upside is that in spite of a continuous growth of
diabetes prevalence, less people die. Today, the blood-sugar level of diabetics
is monitored and controlled in far more countries, an essential way to avoid
complications.
“The awareness of the relation between lifestyle,
manifest through diet and obesity, and diabetes has become stronger. Patient
management by devices for self-monitoring and medication is spreading - a most
important step to empowering individuals,” he said.
Against this backdrop there's clearly much the
industry could do - and indeed is already doing - to assist healthcare
professionals and health systems.
With World Diabetes Day taking place today it will
most likely be difficult to avoid industry awareness efforts. But banner events
like that are not the only way pharma can help - patient education, tools for
patients and healthcare professionals and - of course - research into ever more
efficacious medicines could yet help check the tide of diabetes in Europe.
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