World Diabetes Day: China’s diabetes rate highest in the world

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Today, November 14, marks World Diabetes Day. The annual event was initiated in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the rapid rise of diabetes around the world.

Diabetes is a huge and growing burden globally. Data from the IDF suggests that 415 million adults were living with diabetes in 2015. And that number is expected to increase to around 642 million - or one in ten adults - by 2040.

There are two major forms of diabetes and no medical cure has been developed for the disease. Diabetes can cause early death, or result in serious illnesses like blindness, stroke, kidney disease, amputation and heart disease.

World Diabetes Day 2016 is themed “Eyes on Diabetes.” The campaign will focus on promoting the importance of screening to ensure early diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, and treatment to reduce the risk of serious complications. One in every two people currently living with diabetes is undiagnosed, according to the IDF.

China accounts for 19 percent of the world’s population, but had more than 30 percent of adult diabetes cases in 2014. Of the 422 million adults with the chronic disease, an estimated 129.3 million were in China, according to a report on diabetes published by the WHO in April.

Unhealthy diet habits and a lack of exercise have resulted in an increasing number of overweight people in China. Experts say obesity is one of main reasons behind the increasing diabetes cases across the country.

“China has witnessed an explosive growth of patients with diabetes over the past two decades. In 1979, less than 1% of adults developed the disease, while the number increased to 2.6% in 2002 and 9.7% in 2010,” said Liang Xiaofeng, deputy director for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.