Setting global targets could cut impact of diabetes in developing countries

diabetes
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Setting and achieving targets for treating diabetes patients with cholesterol or blood pressure medication, as well as tackling blood sugar levels, could save lives and reduce healthy-lifetime lost due to diabetes in developing countries, a new global study reveals.

Some 80% of people with diabetes live in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs). Fewer than 6% of these individuals can access the care they need to manage their diabetes and prevent long-term complications like heart attacks, strokes, kidney diseases or blindness.

Researchers have found that if 80% of people had their diabetes and high blood pressure—which often accompanies the condition—diagnosed, treated, and controlled, and were given a cholesterol medication, healthy lifetime lost to patients from diabetes would improve by around by 6% over 10 years. This would be mainly from reduced , like heart attacks or strokes.

The international research team, co-led by the University of Birmingham, published its findings today in The Lancet Global Health.

Co-lead author Professor Justine Davies, from the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Applied Health Research, commented: “We had already identified huge drop offs in the care received by people with diabetes in LMICs—from being diagnosed to being treated then having their condition managed, with fewer than 10% of patients getting the management they need.

“Setting global targets for HIV and AIDs has led to massive improvements in people getting the treatment that they need to save lives and improve health. Our research suggests that similar targets would certainly be useful in improving lives for people with diabetes. We must definitely now achieve scale-up blood pressure and statin medication treatment as part of our ongoing fight against diabetes.”

Benefits vary dependent on world region. For example, Central and Eastern Europe would derive most benefit from hitting targets, whereas countries in Oceania are already close to achieving these targets.

Hitting targets also would reduce deaths over the coming 10 years in all world regions, but the benefits are larger in some than others. For example, Eastern sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most deaths from cardiovascular diseases due to diabetes at baseline (46 deaths per 1,000 people with diabetes) – if targets were achieved, deaths would fall to 27 per 1,000.

Analyzing health data from 23,678 people with diabetes in 67 countries, researchers estimate that achieving targets to improve the number of patients with diabetes who have their pressure properly treated and who are on a cholesterol medication, are among the most critical strategies for reducing diabetes complications in Low- and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). Boosting statin or treatment by 10% would substantially cut the risk of cardiovascular events whilst boosting control of glucose had less benefit.

Researchers also discovered that when considering costs, achieving such targets in most world regions would come in below WHO thresholds for cost effectiveness.

The study reveals that taking such an holistic approach and treating diabetes and as well as giving a cholesterol medication is cost effective, but it is likely to be more complex to monitor whether counties are achieving these multiple targets. It requires countries to regularly collect nationally representative data in order to monitor how effectively diabetes care is reaching patients.

“The study has highlighted some of the most important gaps in current global diabetes data that are needed both to establish targets for diabetes care in LMICs and monitor progress toward achieving these,” added Dr. Jennifer Manne-Goehler, co-lead author from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“Until diabetes registries are established, it is vital to collect data that will help us to assess the prevalence of diabetes and other cardiovascular disease risk factors in populations. The greater impact of COVID in people with reinforces this urgency.”



More information: Estimated impact of increased diagnosis, treatment, and control of diabetes mellitus among low- and middle-income countries: A microsimulation model, The Lancet Global Health (2021).

Citation: Setting global targets could cut impact of diabetes in developing countries (2021, September 22) retrieved 5 October 2021 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-global-impact-diabetes-countries.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here

Related Posts
Missing youth, 13, last seen at Ottawa airport, police say thumbnail

Missing youth, 13, last seen at Ottawa airport, police say

Published Apr 15, 2023  •  Last updated Apr 16, 2023  •  < 1 minute read Files: Ottawa Police headquarters Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia The Ottawa Police Service said Friday that a 13-year-old youth, missing since Saturday, has been found safe. Why have cartoon-like statues of pandas, bunnies and bears appeared in Ottawa's Chinatown? Environment
Read More
Stricter Pandemic Policies Took Toll on Mental Health thumbnail

Stricter Pandemic Policies Took Toll on Mental Health

People's mental health suffered when strict COVID-19 control measures were put in place by their governments, according to two new studies. In one longitudinal analysis drawing on data from 15 countries excluding the U.S., policies with higher stringency were associated with higher mean psychological distress scores during the first 15 months of the pandemic (standardized…
Read More
Score Up to 50% Off on These Robot Vacuums at Walmart thumbnail

Score Up to 50% Off on These Robot Vacuums at Walmart

We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.Courtesy of RetailerRobots, as we know them, are a relatively recent idea. The word only entered our lexicon in the early 20th century, with the first machine robot being built in the ’50s and robots popping up on screens throughout
Read More
Switching from Cigarettes to Alternative Tobacco Proven Effective in Stopping Smokers thumbnail

Switching from Cigarettes to Alternative Tobacco Proven Effective in Stopping Smokers

BANYAK orang sering salah kaprah menilai bahwa produk tembakau alternatif sama bahayanya dengan rokok. Yuk cek faktanya lebih lanjut! Bicara tentang rokok, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Amerika Serikat menyebutkan bahwa merokok berpotensi meningkatkan risiko penyakit tidak menular. Seperti jantung koroner dan stroke sebanyak 2 sampai 4 kali. Perokok pria juga berpotensi terkena…
Read More
Index Of News
Consider making some contribution to keep us going. We are donation based team who works to bring the best content to the readers. Every donation matters.
Donate Now

Subscription Form

Liking our Index Of News so far? Would you like to subscribe to receive news updates daily?

Total
0
Share