World Diabetes Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of diabetes as a global public health issue and what needs to be done, collectively and individually, for better prevention, diagnosis, and management of the condition.
This World Diabetes Day, WHO will highlight the need for equitable access to essential care, including raising awareness of ways people with diabetes can minimize their risk of complications. Activities will also celebrate the experiences of people with all forms of diabetes to help those impacted to take action, including seeking and obtaining essential care.
Key facts about diabetes
- Type 1 diabetes is not preventable. Type 2 diabetes is often preventable through a healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining normal body weight, and avoiding tobacco use.
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Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke, and lower limb amputation.
Diabetes can be treated and its complications avoided or delayed with regular screening and treatment.
People with diabetes should seek regular screening for complications to aid in early detection. This includes screening for kidney disease, regular eye exams, and foot assessment.
Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 30-40%.
Diabetes is associated with about twice the risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease and a higher risk of multidrug-resistant TB. People with both TB and diabetes are twice as likely to die during TB treatment and have twice the risk of TB relapse after treatment completion.
Only about 50% of people with type 2 diabetes get the insulin they need, often because their country’s health systems cannot afford it.