Number of UK People Diagnosed With Diabetes Reaches 3.2 Million

10 Feb 2014 --- The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has increased to more than 3.2 million, according to figures released today by Diabetes UK. The new figures, extracted from official NHS data, show that there were 3,208,014 adults with the condition in 2013, an increase of more than 163,000 compared to 2012.

This is the biggest increase in a single year since 2008 and it means six per cent of UK adults is now diagnosed with diabetes (this does not include the hundreds of thousands of people with undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes).

The size of the increase may be partly explained by a change in methodology (the figure now includes people with rarer forms of diabetes as well as with Type 1 and Type 2), while some new cases may reflect improvements in diagnosis.

But even taking this into account, the new figures demonstrate that the sharp rise in people with diabetes seen in the UK over the last decade shows no sign of slowing down.

As well as highlighting the need to do more to prevent Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for most of the increase and is closely linked to being overweight, Diabetes UK has warned that, with one in 17 people now diagnosed with the condition, the need to improve diabetes healthcare is now more urgent than ever.

Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “The big increase in the number of people with diabetes confirms that we are in the middle of an unfolding public health disaster that demands urgent action.

“Firstly, we need more focus on preventing Type 2 diabetes, as this is the only way we can bring the rapid rise in diabetes cases under control. This means properly implementing the NHS Health Check so we can identify more people at high risk and then making sure they get the support they need to reduce that risk.”

Young also highlighted the need to address the obesity crisis.

“This is what is fuelling the increase in Type 2,” she said. “This can be done by making healthy food cheaper and more accessible and by making it easier for people to build physical activity into their daily lives.”

The charity said it wants local NHS organisations to commit to fully implementing the NHS Health Check (which should be offered to everyone aged 40 to 74) to help identify people at high risk of Type 2 diabetes.

The NHS organisations also need to ensure everyone with diabetes is offered education on how to manage their condition, said Diabetes UK, as well as urgently improving hospital care for people with diabetes.

The NHS already spends 10 per cent of its entire budget on diabetes and 80 per cent of this goes on treating complications such as amputation, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.

"With the number of people with diabetes continuing to rise, there is now an urgent need to start focusing on the ongoing care and support for self-management that can help prevent complications happening in the first place,” said Young. “Unless we do this, we are likely to see more people having to endure complications and an accompanying rise in diabetes spending that we will simply not be able to afford.”