EU urges action to curb diabetes

EU health ministers have pledged to act and tackle a sharp rise in diabetes across the union, with the number of European diabetes patients set to jump from 22.5 million last year to 60 million in 2025.

"Diabetes is surely the world's most underestimated illness," Austrian health minister Maria Rauch-Kallat said following the informal health council held in Vienna on Tuesday (25 April), according to press reports.

She said member states need to make a joint effort to tackle the worrying trends, criticising the fact that in half of the EU countries governments have no plan or special strategy to deal with "an epidemic of modern times."

Experts present at the meeting pointed out that prevention as well as early diagnosis are crucial in cutting the number of diabetes victims - estimated at around 35 million worldwide in 2005.

"Every 30 seconds, a diabetic loses a leg by amputation worldwide," said Mrs Rauch-Kallat, adding that information and early diagnosis would help reduce amputations by 85 percent.

Good diet and physical exercise among the population would also prevent the significant financial burden on countries' health systems due to diabetes.

The World Health Organisation predicts the world will pay around €22.5 billion per year on diabetes medicine in 2010, jumping from 14.3 billion last year.

"In the world, 1.1 billion people are already suffering from obesity. If we don't do anything, we will have a catastrophe," WHO deputy director-general Catherine Le Galès-Camus indicated.

The EU ministers gathered in Vienna were told the prevention of so-called Type-2 diabetes should be especially enhanced, as it is much more common than Type 1.

While Type 1 patients are not able to produce insulin at all - needed to convert blood sugar to energy - Type 2 occurs when people's bodies do not produce enough insulin.

Type 2 could is easily treated at an early stage, but often goes undetected until it develops into more serious health disorders, such as kidney damage or blindness.

Apart from diabetes, ministers also debated the need for different medical treatment for men and women when dealing with diseases such as breast cancer and osteoporosis.