As the obesity epidemic takes its toll, the number of people whose wellness is affected by diabetes is expected to reach 4.4 million by 2020. This is according to Diabetes UK, who says that the increase in the disease will threaten the financial wellbeing of the NHS, which is already spending 10% of its budget on treating diabetes sufferers.
According to chief executive Barbara Young, ‘The healthcare system is already at breaking point in terms of its ability to provide care for people with diabetes and the result is that many people are developing health complications that could have been avoided and are dying early as a result. We face the very real prospect of the rise in the number of people with the condition combining with NHS budget pressures to create a perfect storm that threatens to bankrupt the NHS.’
Currently, an estimated 850,000 people in Britain have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it. Young argued, ‘the Government and the NHS do not seem to have grasped the scale of the impending crisis and at the moment we seem to be sleepwalking towards it. But the crucial point is that it is still not too late to take the action needed to avert it. We need a Government-funded campaign to raise awareness of risk factors for Type 2 diabetes to help identify and give proper support to those at high risk and to highlight the seriousness of the condition so that people understand why they should be doing everything they can to prevent it.’
Diabetes UK analysed figures from the Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory to find this predicted increase, noting that the vast majority of new cases will be type 2 diabetes, which is linked to unhealthy lifestyles and obesity. ‘We still hear about people who think diabetes is a relatively mild condition and do not realise it can lead to devastating complications such as blindness, amputation and stroke,’ Young said.
A Department of Health spokesman responded, ‘We are taking wide-ranging action to tackle diabetes. First through prevention – by encouraging healthier lifestyles and identifying those at risk and supporting them to take the necessary action to prevent diabetes. Secondly, by better management of the condition, both in hospital and in the community. We hope to help prevent people getting diabetes in the first place, but by investing in the NHS and modernising it, we will also drive up the quality of care for those who have the disease.’
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