The spread of diabetes exposes those affected by fatalities as well as in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published recently the study "A look at health in Europe", in which it reported that 9% of adults in Albania have diabetes. Turkey, Germany, Portugal, and North Macedonia had the highest levels of diabetes.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body is unable to regulate excess glucose levels. If left undiagnosed or under poor control, it can result in serious complications, including blindness, kidney failure and leg mutilation.
Diabetes increases the risks of cardiovascular disease and people with diabetes also have a greater risk of getting seriously ill if they become infected with the COVID-19 virus.
About 32.3 million adults were diagnosed with diabetes in the European Union in 2019, up from about 16.8 million in 2000. An additional 24.2 million people in Europe were estimated to have diabetes but were undiagnosed in 2019.
Health experts in Albania claim that diabetes levels are much higher than official reports.
The OECD reports that the number of men diagnosed with diabetes has increased rapidly since 2000 across Europe. From 7.3 million affected in 2000, they reached 16.7 million in 2019.
The number of women with diabetes has also increased significantly, reaching 15.6 million in 2019 compared to 9.5 million in 2000. Men are more prone to developing diabetes due to biological factors.
Diabetes is more prevalent among the elderly, as 19.3 million people aged 60-79 are reported to have diabetes across the EU, compared to 11.3 million people aged 40-59 and only 1.7 million aged 20-39.
The prevalence of diabetes among adults was 6.2% in EU countries in 2019. Rates ranged from over 9% or more in Cyprus, Portugal and Germany to less than 4% in Ireland and Lithuania.
The prevalence of diabetes seems stabilized in many European countries in recent years, especially in the Nordic countries, although they have continued to rise slightly in South European countries and Central and Eastern European countries.