According to a new Lancet study published on November 13, the prevalence of diabetes in India has increased by 10–12 percentage points between 1980 and 2022 for both men and women.

In India today, diabetes affects 23.7% of women and 21.4% of men. India has long been known as the global hub for diabetes. According to the most recent study, there are 212 million cases of diabetes in India overall. This is the largest percentage that any nation contributes to the global diabetes epidemic, accounting for 26% of all cases.


More concerning, though, is the fact that most diabetics in India do not receive any kind of treatment.
Only 27.8% of the total group of women with the illness have any coverage for treatment, according to this study. In the same way, only 29.3% of men are treated.

Even though India now has a specific treatment and prevention plan for the incidence of diabetes, treatment coverage has only slightly improved over the past 44 years. In 1980, the percentage of men and women who received treatment was 25.3% and 21.6%, respectively.


Once more, India is the country with the highest percentage of untreated diabetes cases worldwide (30%). This is equivalent to 133 million individuals.

China has the second-highest number of untreated cases (78 million). More than 50% separates the nation that contributes the most from the one that contributes the second-highest number of such cases.

There are 18 million cases of diabetes in Indonesia and 24 million in Pakistan.

Enhancing case detection is a prerequisite to expanding treatment coverage, according to the study's authors, who also discovered that current treatment variations were significantly correlated with the severity of diabetes under diagnosis.

South Asian nations are not doing enough to stop diabetes from developing too early, according to the Lancet assessment. It stated:


"Those at high risk of diabetes may also be identified early and given advice to use a combination of dietary and lifestyle changes and medications to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes in nations with universal health insurance and good access to primary care. In health systems with limited funding and attention to diabetes screening, this strategy is less common.