|
 Diabetes -- which can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart
problems, neuropathic pain and amputations -- now affects 9 percent
of all adults worldwide, up from 5 percent in 1980.
The vast majority have type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to obesity
and lack of exercise, and cases are spreading particularly rapidly
in the developing world as people adopt more Western, urban
lifestyles.
Researchers said the amount of insulin needed to effectively treat
type 2 diabetes would rise by more than 20 percent over the next 12
years, but insulin would be beyond the reach of half the 79 million
type 2 diabetics predicted to need it in 2030.
The shortfall is most acute in Africa, where the team led by Dr
Sanjay Basu from Stanford University estimated supply would have to
rise sevenfold to treat at-risk patients who had reached the stage
of requiring insulin to control their blood sugar.
"These estimates suggest that current levels of insulin access are
highly inadequate compared to projected need, particularly in Africa
and Asia," Basu said.
"Despite the U.N.'s commitment to treat non-communicable diseases
and ensure universal access to drugs for diabetes, across much of
the world insulin is scarce and unnecessarily difficult for patients
to access."
Global insulin supply is dominated by three companies -- Novo
Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly -- which have various programs to try
to improve access to their products.
[to top of second column] |
Insulin, however, remains costly and prices can be especially out of
reach in poorer countries where tortuous supply chains and high
mark-ups by middlemen often make it unaffordable for many patients.
Overall, Basu and colleagues calculated that global insulin use was
set to rise to 634 million 1,000-unit vials by 2030 from 526 million
in 2018.
Their study, published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology
journal and funded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust, was based on
projections of diabetes prevalence from the International Diabetes
Federation.
Dr Hertzel Gerstein from Canada's McMaster University wrote in an
accompanying commentary that it was important to estimate and ensure
insulin supplies, but added the forecasts should be treated
cautiously as they were based on mathematical models.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Adrian Croft)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
