Today, more than 420 million people have diabetes globally, a number that has quadrupled since 1980 and is expected to rise beyond half a billion by the end of the decade. Deaths from diabetes increased by 70% globally between 2000 and 2019. With the COVID-19 pandemic, a high proportion of people with diabetes have been hospitalized with severe manifestations of COVID-19 or have succumbed to the virus. The pandemic has also led to severe disruption of diabetes services.
The year 2021 marks 100 years since the discovery of insulin. We have more knowledge than ever before about preventing and treating diabetes. Despite this, half of all adults with type 2 diabetes in the world remain undiagnosed. Those who are diagnosed are not guaranteed access to essential diabetes and related medicines and regular screening for complications. Many children, adolescents and adults with type 1 diabetes struggle to access insulin.
In Sri Lanka, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have risen unprecedentedly over the past few decades. The increasing prevalence of diabetes is largely caused by higher rates of obesity and physical inactivity. According to the STEPS survey 2015, 8% of the adult population was diabetic. The survey also reported that 30.4% of the Sri Lankan adult population did not engage in the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity level per week, with females (38.4%) being more inactive than males (22.5%).
People with diabetes require ongoing care and support to manage their condition and avoid complications. The consequences of suboptimal treatment are severe, as diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
World Diabetes Day, which falls on the 14th of November, provides an opportunity to raise awareness of diabetes as a global public health issue and to emphasize what needs to be done, collectively and individually, for better prevention, diagnosis and management of the condition. WHO takes this opportunity to highlight not only the challenges, but, more importantly, the solutions, to scaling-up access to diabetes medicines and care.
In this backdrop, WHO Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Diabetes Federation, and the NCD Unit, Ministry of Health, organized two one-hour webinars in Sinhala and Tamil to raise awareness among community leaders on the importance of accessing diabetes care to manage diabetes and its complications. The webinars will take place on the 28th of November and registration will be opened soon.
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