- Over 100 million people in India are diagnosed with diabetes, ranking second globally after China
- Other emerging lifestyle-related risk factors are obesity, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diets
- Consequently, women are particularly affected at different stages of life
With upwards of 100 million, India has the second largest population of people with diabetes in the world, only behind China.
This rising public health issue, associated with increasing risk factors related to lifestyle, including obesity, physical inactivity, and poor diet, affects women at different stages of their life.
At the recent Illness to Wellness Awareness Conference: Prevention and Management of Diabetes, in New Delhi leading up to World Diabetes Day, experts called for more attention to women’s health in India’s response to diabetes.
Dr. Ashok Kumar, Director of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, said diabetes can present during pregnancy, and diabetes is a risk factor prior to pregnancy.
Diabetic women are also at risk for hypertension, may experience complicating conditions at delivery, and are children face increased risk of Type 2 diabetes later in life.
Dr. Ashok emphasized that awareness and intervention about lifestyle at the time and throughout pregnancy may very well be important.
Rajesh Bhushan, previous Health Secretary to the Government of India and Chairperson of the Governing Council of the Illness to Wellness Foundation, said diabetes has become one of the most serious non-communicable diseases in India.
He estimated that up to 90 million adults in India have diabetes, and the need to focus on early detection, screening, treatment compliance, systematic preventive care through the health system is more vital than ever.
Dr. Shuchin Bajaj from the FICCI Task Force spoke to the economic and social burden diabetes brings. Increasing populations will lead to decreased productivity, increased health care spend, and impact families and the health infrastructure. He also emphasized that prevention and management should be prioritised together.
The Illness to Wellness Foundation facilitated the gathering of doctors, policy makers and public health experts onto a single platform to have a discussion regarding diabetes, at every stage across the life course. Expert voices suggested the disease is no longer consigned to urban or affluent populations.
A major ICMR study published in The Lancet cites the population of diabetics in India increased from 33 million in the 1990s to over 100 million in 2023.
