Wednesday 17 November 2010

China Spends RMB 173.4 Billion (US$25 Billion) A Year On Diabetes Treatment

China Spends RMB 173.4 Billion (US$25 Billion) A Year On Diabetes Treatment

Marking World Diabetes Day on November 14, the Chinese Diabetes Society of the Chinese Medical Association, and the International Diabetes Federation launched the findings of a new study revealing the social and economic impact of diabetes in China.

The study, conducted by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS), is a follow-up to a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine which found that China had twice as many people with diabetes than previously estimated (92.4 million adults).

Key Findings Of IDF-CDS Study

Approximately 5,000 people were interviewed between January 2008 and August 2010 in 12 sites for this nationally representative study. Early results from data based on 1,920 responses from 5 sites reveal the following key findings:

1) CDS and IDF estimate that 13% of total medical expenditures in China are directly caused by diabetes: RMB 173.4 billion or US$25 billion. People with diabetes in China report 3 to 4 times more in-patient care, out-patient visits, and emergency room visits than people without diabetes of the same age and sex.

2) These numbers will increase rapidly over the next 10 to 20 years when approximately 50 million Chinese with undiagnosed diabetes enter medical care, and when they and the 50 million Chinese with diagnosed diabetes start developing preventable diabetes complications such as stroke, blindness and kidney disease.

3) Health expenditures for people in China who have had diabetes for 10 or more years are 460% higher than for people who have had diabetes for 1 to 2 years.

4) Urban Chinese with diabetes are so far well-protected from the financial impact of diabetes that often causes destitution in countries without health insurance systems. 89% of people with diabetes in the 5 Chinese cities studied had health insurance. Only 11% of their total household income was spent on medical care. However, they spend 9 times more than people of the same age and sex without diabetes. Persons who have had diabetes for more than 10 years spent 22% of their current household income for healthcare.

5) Diabetes prevalence is skyrocketing in China. People are getting diabetes at a younger age. However, China has a window of opportunity to prevent an epidemic of serious diabetes complications, which will increase spending dramatically. Currently, fewer than 5% of Chinese people with diabetes have experienced stroke, heart attack and heart failure. Less than 5% report kidney disease, eye surgery, or problems with their feet or legs. Half the people interviewed use glucose-lowering drugs but few use anti-hypertensives (16%), statins (1%), or aspirin (13%) which are inexpensive and highly effective and can together lower the risk of complications by 50% or more.

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