Diabetes: The Epidemic That Indians Created
In 1995, India had 19.4 million (see table) diabetics. Within 19 years, that number had more than tripled to 66.8 million in 2014, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). That makes India, home to 17% of the world’s population, also home to 17% of the world’s diabetics.
Another 77 million Indians are currently believed to be pre-diabetic, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.
In 2010, diabetes stood eighteenth in the list of diseases by years of life lost, up from 31 in 1990, as per the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Deaths attributable to diabetes grew 41% from 161,000 to 227,300 between 2000 and 2012, according to the World Health Organisation.
That increase was enough to catapult diabetes into the top 10 of killer diseases in India. The IDF pegs annual deaths due to diabetes in India at more than one million, possibly because poorly controlled diabetes brings on other killer diseases.
Diabetes in India now cuts across all age groups and geographies. Although it is more prevalent in urban areas, rural India will catch up as lifestyles change. In cities like Chennai,Delhi and Kochi, one in five adults is diabetic.
There is little doubt that India is witnessing a diabetes epidemic—brought on by Indians.
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