A new report by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says the number of people with diabetes in the Americas, including the Caribbean, has more than tripled in three decades.
PAHO’s “Panorama of Diabetes in the Americas”, released ahead of World Diabetes Day on Monday, says growing rates of obesity, poor diets, and lack of physical activity, among other factors, have contributed to a more than three-fold increase in the number of adults living with diabetes in the Americas in the past 30 years.
The report, therefore, calls on regional countries to improve early diagnosis, increase access to quality care for diabetes control, and develop strategies to promote healthy lifestyles and nutrition.
It says the increase over three decades is linked to an increase in risk factors and states that two-thirds of adults in the Americas are overweight or obese, and only 60 per cent get enough exercise.
