Diabetes is a serious and progressive disease. A disease that kills a person every 2 minutes in Europe. At a conference organized by the European Diabetes Leadership Forum earlier this week, Tonio Borg, the European Commissioner for Health stressed the importance of prevention in the fight against this disease which affects 8% of the elderly European population. over 20 years old. In France, 3 million people are affected.
Diabetes also has serious social consequences
More than 9% of the European health budget is devoted to the treatment of diabetes. However, it is possible to prevent the disease most of the time, especially in children, pregnant women and vulnerable people.
Diabetes has “significant economic consequences for a society if you consider the money spent on the treatment of diabetes or diabetics who can neither work nor contribute to society as a whole”, explained the Danish Minister of Health , Nick Hækkerup, during this conference. For the European health authorities, only a prevention policy common to all countries and public-private partnerships for the treatment of the disease will improve the lives of patients and slow the progression of the disease.
Diabetes is the 4th leading cause of death in Europe
The consequences of diabetes are still too little known. Half of diabetics die from cardiovascular disease. Between 10 and 20% of Europeans die of kidney failure, 10% develop severe visual impairment and 50% suffer from diabetic neuropathy.
