44% diabetics undiagnosed in 2023; underdiagnosis a challenge in poor countries: Study

About 44 per cent of the world’s diabetics were undiagnosed in 2023, while underdiagnosis and sub-optimal management of glycaemic index continue to pose major challenges in low- and middle-income countries, according to an analysis.

Estimates published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal show that 43.6 per cent of India’s diabetic population were diagnosed with the condition in 2023, an increase of about 14 per cent in diagnosis rates seen in 2000.

Over 97 per cent of those diagnosed were under treatment in 2023, an international team of researchers forming the ‘Global Burden of Disease’ (GBD) study found.

More than 55 per cent of people aged 15 and above around the world were diagnosed with diabetes, the analysis of data collected during 2000-2023 from across 204 countries and territories revealed.

“By 2050, 1.3 billion people are expected to be living with diabetes, and if nearly half don’t know they have a serious and potentially deadly health condition, it could easily become a silent epidemic,” said first author Lauryn Stafford, a researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the US’ University of Washington, which coordinates the GBD study.

The team also included researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The highest rates of diagnoses were seen in North America and the highest rates of treatment among the diagnosed were in high-income Asia Pacific (Japan, South Korea and other countries).

Southern Latin America, including Chile and Argentina, was found to have recorded the highest rates of optimal glycaemic levels among those receiving diabetes treatment.

Central sub-Saharan Africa faced the largest gaps in diagnosis, with under 20 per cent of people with diabetes being aware of the condition, researchers said.

Given the rapid pace of rise in cases, an investment in screening programmes among the youth is urgently needed, they said, highlighting that access to medicines and glucose-monitoring tools has improved, especially in underserved regions.

The World Health Organisation had, in May 2022, set a target to have 80 per cent of people with diabetes clinically diagnosed by 2030. Eighty per cent of those diagnosed should have good control of glycaemia and as many must have good control over blood pressure, the WHO has said.