Diabetes affects nearly 6% of the world's adults

Nearly 6% of adults in the world, or 246 million people, have diabetes, figures published this week by the International Diabetes Federation indicate. The federation, a coalition of diabetes associations from more than 150 countries, estimates that the prevalence of diabetes (mainly type 2) is rising relentlessly and now affects 5.9% of people aged 20-79 years. Almost 80% of affected people live in developing countries. The data were published in the latest edition of the Diabetes Atlas , which used a detailed literature search to estimate the prevalence of diabetes by creating smoothed curves of prevalence at different age groups that were then applied to each country's population distribution. Reporting the figures at the 19th World Diabetes Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, Pierre Lefebvre, emeritus …