As in the United States, diabetes
education is lacking around the world. Who is responsible for the
lack of diabetes education? The medical professionals in all
countries of course, because they treat all diabetes as a progressive
and a lifestyle disease. They have the feeling of why waste the
resources on people that cannot manage their diabetes.
With American and World Diabetes Month
upon us, all people with diabetes need to be pushing for diabetes
education. Without education, the world diabetes epidemic will
continue and the numbers will grow. In addition, the costs will
continue to rise and eventually become uneconomical for most
governments. Diabetes education could go a long way to stem the
diabetes epidemic. If done properly, patients would know that
diabetes does not have to be progressive and could be held in check
for a few years or for decades. The cost of education could reduce
overall costs and be beneficial for patients and governments.
Yet, without the medical communities
being on board, the education will not happen, diabetes will continue
to grow in numbers, and continue to be progressive for those that
will not self-educate themselves about diabetes. Yes, doctors, you
need to support education about diabetes. In addition, doctors will
need to screen more patients for diabetes, especially since about
half of the people presently with diabetes do not even know they have
diabetes. This also applies to the millions that have impaired
pancreases and are progressing to diabetes, because doctors will not
warn these people and give them the education to make proper food
plans and exercise.
Some statistics that should make
doctors want to educate patients include:
#1. Over the next 20 years, the number
of people with diabetes in Africa will almost double. This region has
the highest mortality rate due to diabetes.
#2. 21.2 million people in Europe
don’t know that they have diabetes.
#3. 6 of the top 10 countries for
diabetes prevalence are Pacific Islands.
#4. China has 114 million people
living with diabetes. India follows up in second with 63.0 million,
and the U.S takes third with 24.1 million.
#5. More people in the United States
die each year from diabetes than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
#6. In 2012, 4.8 million people died
due to diabetes.
#7. 471 billion U.S. dollars were
spent on healthcare for diabetes in 2012 alone.
#8. WHO projects that diabetes will be
the 7th leading cause of death in 2030.
“One of the main issues involving
diabetes is the lack of attention and funding we
have seen from governments. Considering the number of people
affected and its cost impact, diabetes prevention and research does
not receive nearly as much support as diseases like cancer and
HIV/AIDS. For people with diabetes to be able to take the important
action of monitoring their blood sugar regularly, we need
to make it financially feasible for them to purchase the supplies
they need, and we need to teach them and their care team why and how
they need to do this monitoring.” This is a
statement by William Hsu, M.D, Senior Director of Joslin Health
Solutions International. Bold is my emphasis.
Dr. Hsu continued, “Getting
governments involved is just one of the issues faced in this growing
epidemic. Nearly half of people with diabetes are undiagnosed, this
makes it an impossible problem to solve when people don’t know
there in an issue in the first place. Diabetes awareness –including
prevention, diagnosis and treatment– must start at the community
level. We must reach out across spheres of influence to help take
the stigma out of diabetes, to help people realize that it is better
to know about, and then take control of their diabetes, rather than
to ignore it. We also need to take the long view, building to the
future. Training medical students and junior doctors and nurses from
other countries in diabetes knowledge and skills in listening to and
engaging patients will ensure that we can affect the next generation
and beyond.”
WHO (World Health Organization) is
another organization that is dedicated to preventing and minimizing
the complications of diabetes globally. Through their Diabetes
Programme, WHO “oversees the development and adoption of
internally agreed standards and norms for the diagnosis and treatment
of diabetes, its complications and risk factors.” It promotes
and contributes to the surveillance of diabetes as well as advocates
for the prevention and control of diabetes in vulnerable populations.
“The International Diabetes
Federation (IDF) is dedicated to engaging in action to tackle
diabetes from the local to global level. At IDF, the main focus is
worldwide awareness and advocacy. Aiming to increase public awareness
and encourage health improvement, IDF promotes the exchange of
high-quality information about diseases and provides education for
people with diabetes and their healthcare providers.” This is
from their website.
Why can't the other organizations have
similar goals? At present, all the doctors seem to want to
accomplish is let diabetes continue without education and testing
supplies, to be able to treat the complications of diabetes. The
shame of this will be on them.
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