According to the recent World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates about 180 million people worldwide have diabetes and nearly 1.1 million people succumbed to the ailment just in 2005. Almost 80 percent of diabetes deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, the UN body emphasizes.
One in every five diabetics in the world is an Indian. With more than 40 million diabetes patients of the total cases worldwide, India is home to over 20 percent of world’s diabetes cases. WHO also predicts that, by 2030, India could count for 79 million of the world's 360 million diabetics, which indicator of a horrific future, and experts believe that given the changing lifestyle, the disease is going to take an endemic status soon.

'With such a huge population of diabetic patients, the country is known as the ‘diabetes capital’ of the world. It has been noticed that with every diagnosed case of diabetes there is at least one undiagnosed case of glucose intolerance. So the actual population at risk would be much greater than our current estimate,' says Manoj Chadha, a senior consultant at P.D. Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai. As diabetes can lead to several complications like kidney failure, foot amputation, heart problem, skin related problems are also growing at over 50 percent in India. According to former professor of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a diabetes patient spends nearly Rs. 15,000 on treatment per year. And if the problem leads to other health complications then the expenditure rises by four-fold. Experts believe that, in India the mortality rate is over five percent of the total number of cases reported every year.

'The increasing number of children suffering from diabetes is alarming and more seriously the people getting affected by the diseases is slowly becoming younger. In short the situation is grave,' says Anoop Misra, head of the department of diabetes, Fortis Healthcare. He also says that growing popularity of junk food, intake of trans-fats, high calorie but low protein diet, sedentary lifestyle and racial predisposition were the main reasons for the spread of the disease. Another experts says 'Genetically Indians are predisposed to such ailments. And when they change their food habit then the chance of being affected by diabetes and heart problem is immense. In the last few decades with the growth of urbanization, lifestyle of people in India has changed so radically that it has made people more prone to type 2 diabetes’.

The Type-2 diabetes results from the body's ineffective use of insulin and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity. The Rosso (Retrolective Study Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose and Outcome in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes) study has concluded that regular self-monitoring of blood glucose not only enhances the quality of life but also ensures longevity.
In India, access to proper health care is absolutely not satisfactory with less than 20 percent of patients receiving care from doctors. What is more worrisome is that people in rural India are not even aware of the disease and thus do not avail medical facilities.
About the anti-diabetes campaign, specialists feel that the focus should not only be restricted to effective medication but should aggressively be aimed at awareness and total lifestyle changes.
Both the government and the private sector needs to work together for creating awareness among people. The situation is tough and all agencies need to take young generation - schools and college students, teachers and parents together for a better results. People in general need to change their lifestyle and take as less junk foods as well. Exercise should be a part of the daily routine.
For a diabetic, the key to remain complication free is to have a good lifestyle, monitor glucose regularly, take medication and see the doctor regularly. Key to prevent diabetes was to eat less, eat on time, walk more, sleep well and smile.