Cost of type 2 diabetes mellitus in selected developing countries

Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is a major contributor for rapid rise in healthcare cost in developing countries since the last decade. It was estimated that around 54% of deaths in developing countries are due to chronic non-communicable diseases which is predicted to rise by 65% by 2030. Diabetes mellitus is among the most prevalent chronic diseases suffered by more than 180 million people worldwide. By 2030 it is estimated that around 400 million people in the world will be afflicted with diabetes. Annual deaths attributable to diabetes are probably as high as 3 million with more than 80% occur in developing countries. India, China and Indonesia are three countries in the Asian region with most number of people with diabetes. The total number of cases in these three countries is expected to increase more than double from 61 million in 2000 to 163 million in 2030. China and India will suffer cumulative GDP loss of 13.8% and 16.7% respectively, over the next ten year period. Assessing economic burden of diabetes is a challenging task for researchers because identification of direct and indirect cost of the disease is often complex since patients with diabetes also suffers from other complications and co-morbidities. In conclusion, the heavy economic burden of diabetes pose major challenges to health policy makers in developing countries to assess the current approach in managing this chronic disease. Serious efforts should be made on focusing and up-scaling activities on health promotion and prevention of diabetes so that to provide a more cost-effective solution to this condition with huge and increasing economic loss