Diabetes on the rise throughout the EU, report says
Добавлено: 23.09.2008, 9:19
The number of Europeans who suffer from diabetes has increased by almost 20% to some 31 million people during 2003-2006, a report issued by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) shows, calling for a more decisive EU policy in this area.
"Today Europe finds itself in the midst of a diabetes epidemic," Dr Michael Hall, a board member of the IDF said, stressing that since the last report there has too little progress in the implementation of national policies to fight diabetes, a blood sugar disease that cannot be cured, but only kept under control.
The pan-European audit examining national diabetes policies in EU's 27 member states plus Croatia, Turkey and Kazakhstan is the second to be published by the International Diabetes Federation – European Region (IDF Europe) and the Federation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND).
It found that diabetes prevalence in the European Union has risen to 31 million people, approximately 8.6 percent of the adult population as of 2006 - an increase of nearly 20 percent on 2003. This figure is expected to grow to over 10 percent by 2025.
Prevalence rates in the EU vary from four percent in the UK to 11.8 percent in Germany, with over 13 mostly eastern European countries seeing rates of over nine percent.
"Perhaps the most alarming statistics reflecting the epidemic growth in diabetes is the number of countries where, in 2006, they have either reached, or even surpassed, the prevalence rate forecast only four years ago for 2025," the report warns.
In most member states, diabetes accounts for more than 10 percent of healthcare expenditure and in some cases is as high as 18.5 percent.
Only 13 of the EU's 27 member states have national plans to address diabetes. with marked differences in the levels of implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
British MEP John Bowis, chairperson of the Diabetes Working Group, urged the European Commission in the foreword of the report "to take rapid action to shape a coherent EU-wide strategy on diabetes awareness, prevention, treatment and care."
"Today Europe finds itself in the midst of a diabetes epidemic," Dr Michael Hall, a board member of the IDF said, stressing that since the last report there has too little progress in the implementation of national policies to fight diabetes, a blood sugar disease that cannot be cured, but only kept under control.
The pan-European audit examining national diabetes policies in EU's 27 member states plus Croatia, Turkey and Kazakhstan is the second to be published by the International Diabetes Federation – European Region (IDF Europe) and the Federation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND).
It found that diabetes prevalence in the European Union has risen to 31 million people, approximately 8.6 percent of the adult population as of 2006 - an increase of nearly 20 percent on 2003. This figure is expected to grow to over 10 percent by 2025.
Prevalence rates in the EU vary from four percent in the UK to 11.8 percent in Germany, with over 13 mostly eastern European countries seeing rates of over nine percent.
"Perhaps the most alarming statistics reflecting the epidemic growth in diabetes is the number of countries where, in 2006, they have either reached, or even surpassed, the prevalence rate forecast only four years ago for 2025," the report warns.
In most member states, diabetes accounts for more than 10 percent of healthcare expenditure and in some cases is as high as 18.5 percent.
Only 13 of the EU's 27 member states have national plans to address diabetes. with marked differences in the levels of implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
British MEP John Bowis, chairperson of the Diabetes Working Group, urged the European Commission in the foreword of the report "to take rapid action to shape a coherent EU-wide strategy on diabetes awareness, prevention, treatment and care."