NHS faces diabetes epidemic

Reporter

Monday 4 March 2013

MORE than 50 people are diagnosed with diabetes every day in Scotland, prompting warnings of an epidemic.

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Rachel Loxton

New figures show a record three million people have been told they have the disease in the UK, with nearly 250,000 of those in Scotland.

That is equivalent to 4.7% of the Scottish population, with doctors diagnosing someone with the disease every 30 minutes. The number of known Scots diabetes cases, mainly Type 2, is rising by 10,000 each year.

Health experts fear the rise could see the NHS north of the Border, which already spends £300 million a year on diabetes care, burdened with unsustainable costs, raising huge implications for public health.There are calls for the Holyrood government to immediately review its action plan on diabetes, which was launched in 2010. Jane-Claire Judson, director of Diabetes UK Scotland, said: "Diabetes is turning into a modern public-health epidemic that threatens to be a real challenge to the NHS in Scotland."Researchers found 132,000 people in the UK were told they had the disease last year and a further 850,000 – 50,000 Scots – are thought to have undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes.Stephen Fyffe, of Diabetes UK Scotland, said: "Generally there has been a doubling of the numbers over the last 10 years. The NHS already spends a huge amount of its budget on diabetes patients. It's going to be a big challenge for the NHS in the future if the rise continues. "What we need from the Government – and from everyone – is to be more aware, not only about the risks and symptoms of diabetes, but to know how to avert them."In Type 1 diabetes, the body stops producing insulin, while in Type 2, linked to being overweight, not enough insulin is produced.The research was carried out as part of efforts by Diabetes UK and supermarket giant Tesco to raise £10m for the charity.The partnership will also fund a public awareness campaign on Type 2 diabetes risk factors, aimed at the estimated seven million people at high risk.The total number of people diagnosed with diabetes in Scotland in 2010 was 237,468, and this jumped to 247,278 in 2011.Figures for 2012 will be published by the Scottish Government in the summer.Mr Fyffe said: "The reason why Type 2 is increasing is because we've got more obesity."Jackie Baillie, Labour's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, said urgent action was needed. She said: "Clearly there is an urgency about reviewing the Diabetes Action Plan and, in light of these figures, the Government needs to redouble its efforts to make sure we make much more rapid progress."She added: "The Government should use a twin-tracked approach to educate the public about the risks of obesity and to also speak to the fast-food companies to urge them to reduce the level of salt, sugar and trans fats in their food."A Scottish Government spokesman said a number of health programmes were in place to help tackle diabetes, such as Keep Well, operating in Scotland's most deprived communities, and the obesity prevention action plan.He added: "Our Diabetes Action Plan sets out a clear commitment on the prevention and early detection of diabetes and will tackle the underlying risk factors for diabetes."

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NHS faces diabetes epidemic

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