“It will be a global issue to allow all populations access to medicines” according to the vice-president of the French Federation of Diabetics

By 2050, more than 1.3 billion people are expected to suffer from diabetes, reports France Inter on Friday, relaying a study by the British scientific journal The Lancet. The journal claims that diabetes is becoming a defining disease of the 21st century.

>> Health: diabetes could affect 1.3 billion people in 2050, according to a study

According to the study published by the journal, the number of people with diabetes is experiencing a drastic increase in the world. She also feels that the scale of diabetes and the threat it poses has been underestimated.

In particular, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, but not only. According to Jean-François Thébaut, vice-president of the French Federation of Diabetics, contacted by France Inter, economic factors play an essential role: “Income, social class, where you live… The environment matters a lot. Social determinants have consequences on the populations who are most at risk and for whom the incidence of diabetes is increasing sharply” .

Three quarters of adults with diabetes will live in a poor country by 2045

Among the countries that will be most affected: poor countries, particularly affected by type 2 diabetes, the most common and non-genetic. The review targets, for example, the Marshall Islands or Fiji, with a prevalence that exceeds 20%. According to the projections of The Lancetthree-quarters of adults with diabetes will live in a poor country in 2045.

Disadvantaged populations who struggle to access healthcare, particularly insulin. An observation shared by Jean-François Thébaut: “New drugs are expensive, even for developed countries like France. So it will be a global issue to allow all populations to access them, as has been the case with AIDS or other diseases”.

Insee reports for its part that on average, the treatment of a diabetic costs 5,000 euros per year.