It is thought that the number of diabetics across the world will increase by no less than 130% in the next 25 years!
This means that by 2025, diabetes is likely to affect 5.4% of the total adult population – which is more than one person in 20!
This is a worrying situation, particularly as far as type 2 diabetes is concerned: previously known as non-insulin dependent diabetes it now accounts for 90% of all cases!
In the United States, the prevalence of the disease has increased by 49% over the course of the last eleven years!
Similarly, one in every four Australians over the age of 25 is diabetic or likely to develop diabetes within the next 10 years.
And the Arab world is suffering terribly from this scourge. In the Middle East, 9.2% of the population is believed to be affected, which makes it a world record.
And more than 24% of people living in Qatar are diabetic – almost one person in four!
The countries of the Maghreb are also vying for position in the diabetes stakes.
The WHO believes that at least 4.5% of over-20s are affected by type 2 diabetes and this is likely to rise to 6% or even 7% by 2025.
In Morocco, 8% of the population is diabetic – which means two and a half million people out of a population of 30 million.
