This month we are going to talk about World Diabetes Day – which falls on 14th November each year. World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes as more people around the world were getting diagnosed it had become a greater threat than it used to be.
The theme for this year and next is access to diabetes care, and the main reason for this is because even 100 years after the discovery of insulin, which helps those with diabetes, there are still millions of people around the world that are unable to access the care they need to deal with their symptoms, and it is estimated that around half of people who do have diabetes are not even aware they have it.
With the prevalence of diabetes growing – nearly doubling since 1980 – diabetes education is extra important, and it is hoped that World Diabetes Day will help even a small amount to get people the healthcare that they need. Some statistics for Europe alone:
- 1 in 11 adults (61 million) are living with diabetes, this is expected to rise to 67 million by 2030, and 69 million by 2045
- Over 1 in 3 adults are living with diabetes undiagnosed
- There were over 1.1 million deaths due to diabetes in 2021
- If you’d like to know the figures worldwide or for other specific regions, you can follow this link (https://diabetesatlas.org)
The main aim of World Diabetes Day is to help raise awareness of the impact diabetes can have – on family and support networks, on care companies or the NHS and help promote how important everyone can be on the management, care, prevention and education of diabetes. With more pressure on healthcare systems recently due to Covid, diabetes education will help to stop the rise of diabetes and prevent the risk of complications for those who have it, and so raising awareness of, and helping keep up to date on the education of diabetes will make all the difference.
If you would like to join in raising awareness on the 14th November, or read about what others are doing this World Diabetes Day, checkout the official hashtags #WorldDiabetesDay and #EducationToProtect