
Nine things you need to know why fighting diabetes must start in cities
Urban areas are complex environments. A large number of environmental, social, cultural and economic factors have an impact on individual and population health. In the following, we will take a look at how urbanisation impacts lifestyle.
1. Diabetes is an emergency in slow motion
It may not have the immediacy of communicable diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, but diabetes is a bigger killer globally than all of the above combined. (1) It is estimated that 415 million people, or about one in every 11 people, are living with the condition worldwide–that is 33 million adults more than in 2013. (2)
2. Cities are the frontline of the battle against diabetes
Already today, two-thirds of all people with diabetes live in urban environments. Urban diabetes is on the frontline of the diabetes challenge. Without urgent action, the trajectory is clear:
In Mexico City, where diabetes is already the leading cause of death, the number of people with the condition could rise to over 6 million people–nearly 1 in 5 of the population–by 2040.
In Houston, diabetes rates are expected to jump from nearly one person in 10 to one person in 5 over the next 25 years. (3)
3. There are underlying social and cultural drivers
By 2035 as many as half a billion people will have type 2 diabetes. (4) Medical treatment is essential but will not halt its rise. If we’re serious about changing the rise of type 2 diabetes, we must look at the problem in a different way. This means looking to the nearly 2 billion people worldwide who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. (5) It means l
Continue
reading