Global health program sets goal to reduce 100 million diabetes cases by 2045

HOUSTON, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The second Cities Changing Diabetes Summit has set a goal Thursday in Houston, Texas, the United States, to reduce over 100 million diabetes cases by 2045 globally.

According to the report Bending the Curve on Urban Diabetes released during the summit, there are 437 million people suffering from diabetes currently, about one person in every 11 adults in the world, while obesity is the most significant modifiable cause of diabetes.

The report said that today, about 9 percent and 14 percent of adults aged 20 to 79 are living with diabetes and obesity respectively. Without necessary measures, the global diabetes prevalence will continue to rise, reaching 736 million by the year of 2045, or 11.7 percent of adults. While population with obesity will reach 1.4 billion at that time.

The report set a goal of bending the curve on the global diabetes prevalence at 10 percent, meaning shaving 111 million diabetes cases globally by 2045. It requires the prevalence of obesity to be reduced by 25 percent by 2045 compared with 2017 level.

In order to make the change globally, the program of Cities Changing Diabetes called on every city to define a goal, create an action plan, establish new and innovative partnership, build health into every aspect of urban strategy and contribute specific learning to the global efforts.

At the summit, officials from China's Shanghai, Tianjin and Xiamen, as well as from Houston, Mexico city, Johannesburg, Copenhagen and Vancouver shared their experience and efforts to combat diabetes, and discussed the development and cultural differences among them.

Launched in 2014 by Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company, Cities Changing Diabetes is a partnership program to fight the urban diabetes challenge.