Sweet alert! At 7 crore, India has second highest incidence of diabetes in world

The estimated cases of diabetes in India in the age group of 20-70 years were 6.68 crore and 6.91 crore in 2014 and 2015 respectively, says the International Diabetes Federation report.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Raising more concerns about the ever increasing cases of diabetes in India, there were nearly seven crore people with the disease in the country in 2015, the government said.

“As per the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the estimated cases of diabetes in India in the age group of 20-70 years were 6.68 crore and 6.91 crore in 2014 and 2015 respectively, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

He also said that an article published in Lancet medical Journal placed India among the top three countries in the world with high diabetic population.

The article cited that the prevalence of diabetes has also increased by 80% among women between 1980 and 2014.

He said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has undertaken a large-scale epidemiological study on task force projects on diabetes “ICMR - India Diabetes Study (ICMR INDIAB)” which looked at the prevalence of diabetes in different states.

Mr Nadda said the central government is implementing National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) for interventions up to district level under the National Health Mission.

“As per Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s 2016 budget speech, there is a proposal for increase of excise duty on aerated waters, containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured from 18 per cent to 21 per cent,” he said.

According to ICMR, earlier, top three countries in the world for diabetes prevalence were India, China and USA, he said while replying to another quastion.

But, for the past few years, China has overtaken India. As per International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Diabetes Atlas (7th Edition), China has the largest number of cases of diabetes (109.6 million) followed by India (69.1 million) and the US (29.3 million) in 2015.

The rapid surge in diabetes has become a major health concerns in India. The number of deaths in adults due to diabetes in India in 2015 is 1,027,911, as per the IDF.

What's worse is that, by 2030, India's diabetes numbers are expected to cross the 100 million mark.

(With PTI inputs)