WHO Reports 40% of Diabetes Worldwide Without Diagnosis

More than 40% of people with diabetes in the world are unaware of their disease, according to the World Health Organization. According to WHO statistics, 830 million people lived with diabetes in 2022 (most of them with type 2 diabetes), and since 1990 the number of cases has more than quadrupled.

The organization warns: undiagnosed diabetes is dangerous with serious consequences - from blindness and kidney failure to heart attacks, strokes and amputations.

On November 14, the WHO issued its first clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of type 1 diabetes in adults. The document is specially designed so that it can be used in any conditions, even in countries with insufficiently developed medicine or in areas of humanitarian disasters.

In type 1 diabetes, the WHO recalled, the body does not produce enough insulin, so without daily injections, death occurs. The new WHO guidelines provide information on daily insulin injections and dose adjustments for sugar levels. The most affordable and effective option doctors call human insulin, but other types are allowed to use. Especially important in the WHO called the control of blood sugar levels with home glucometers or blood or urine tests in the clinic.

“Insulin is a life-saving medicine discovered over 100 years ago. But many people with type 1 diabetes still do not have access to affordable and quality insulin, said Seren Brostrom, WHO Director for Noncommunicable Diseases. According to him, the new recommendations should help countries to arrange assistance even where there is a shortage of resources.

The WHO also reiterated its global goal of providing all people with type 1 diabetes with affordable insulin and self-control by 2030. In addition, the organization calls on countries to more actively involve patients in the development of programs to combat diabetes.

In March, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Tatyana Golikova said that the increase in the number of patients with diabetes can lead to the fact that the disease will turn into an epidemic. One of the key reasons for this trend, she called the eating habits of the population. In 2025, about 6 million Russians suffered from diabetes.