Diabetes among poor could double by 2030

At least one in 20 deaths worldwide is attributable to diabetes, which translates into a financial burden of between 2.5 and 15 percent of annual health care budgets, according to WHO, which has received a new injection of funds from the World Diabetes Foundation to help its latest drive.

"Diabetes is part of the growing epidemic of noncommunicable diseases that are beginning to impose a double burden of disease on the world's poorest countries," said Catherine Le Gales-Camus, WHO assistant director-general.

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"Even as these countries are struggling to address the problems of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, they must also prepare to deal with the onslaught of diseases that come with changes in lifestyle and ageing of their populations."

Despite the grim figures, Le Gales-Camus said much of the projected rise in diabetes was preventable if attention was given to diet and physical activity.

WHO said it would work with the International Diabetes Federation, to reduce the illness, which affects about 171 million people worldwide, by teaching communities to lead a healthier lifestyle. They will also offer advice to those who already have diabetes on how to cope.

"Prevention and management go hand in hand," said Rafael Bengoa, WHO director in management of NCDs.

"We need to provide comprehensive packages (of care) that meet the needs of all members of the community, and that address the disease at all stages."

People with diabetes, characterised as having has too much glucose in the blood due to a failure to produce enough insulin, were once old and from richer countries, but most sufferers in Africa are aged between 45 and 64, WHO noted.

"We are less active than our parents and grandparents, and we eat food with higher concentrations of sugars and fats, often with the result that we are putting on weight, and increasing the risk of diabetes," said Le Gales-Camus.

"It is easy to see why diseases such as diabetes are on the increase."

Amanda Marlin, a WHO official, said although the World Diabetes Foundation had pledged to help fund the anti-diabetes campaign an exact figure was unavailable as negotiations were set to continue until the end of January.