Diabetes across Life Stages: A Growing Global Challenge

World Diabetes Day, commemorated annually on 14 November, serves as a reminder of the millions of lives touched by diabetes across all stages of life, from early life to older adulthood.

Globally, over 800 million people live with diabetes – four times more than in 1990.¹ The fastest increases are seen in low‑ and middle‑income countries,² where early detection and treatment remain out of reach. Although premature mortality from other major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is declining, it continues to rise for diabetes³ – now also a leading contributor to lost healthy life years.⁴

There are three main types of diabetes:⁵

• Type 1 diabetes is the most common type in children and adolescents and requires daily insulin injections for survival. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes may be mistaken for other illnesses, which can be fatal.
• Type 2 diabetes is most common in adults and older populations. It often develops silently and can be prevented through supportive environments and early detection.  
• Diabetes in pregnancy, including existing type 1 or type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes, affects more than 1 in 6 pregnancies.⁶ While gestational diabetes often resolves after delivery, it increases the risk of complications for both mother and child and increases the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.^{7, 8}

Diabetes left undiagnosed or untreated can lead to severe consequences, including blindness, stroke, amputations and even premature death⁹ – highlighting the need for urgent global action.

The World Health Organization Global Diabetes Compact: a global mandate to change course

In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Global Diabetes Compact¹⁰ with a clear vision: to reduce the risk of diabetes and ensure equitable, comprehensive, affordable and quality care for all people diagnosed with diabetes. The Compact unites governments, healthcare providers, civil society and people living with diabetes around a shared agenda that prioritizes action across the lifespan to prevent and manage diabetes. 

In 2022, WHO Member States endorsed five global targets for diabetes to be achieved by 2030:¹¹ 

• 80 per cent of people with diabetes are diagnosed;
• 80 per cent of people with diagnosed diabetes have good control of glycaemia;
• 80 per cent of people with diagnosed diabetes have good control of blood pressure;
• 60 per cent of people with diabetes of 40 years of age or older receive statins; and
• 100 per cent of people with type 1 diabetes have access to affordable insulin treatment and blood‑glucose self‑monitoring.

While these targets set a clear benchmark for progress, achieving them requires supportive environments and health systems that strengthen prevention, drive early diagnosis and provide continuous, quality care across every stage of life.

 Across all life stages, access to essential diabetes medicines, including insulin, and to technologies and ongoing support is critical.

Why acting across the life stages matters

A life-course approach is foundational for implementation of the WHO Global Diabetes Compact. Every stage of life presents unique risks, needs and opportunities for intervention.

For example, in early life, timely diagnosis and management of type 1 diabetes can be life-saving and prevent complications later in life. Childhood is also critical to shaping future health, as supportive environments in schools, families and communities can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

During reproductive years, integrating diabetes screening, monitoring and management into routine maternal health services supports timely diagnosis and treatment. This World Diabetes Day, WHO launched its first-ever recommendations on care for women with diabetes in pregnancy, providing a road map to strengthen maternal health and address NCDs at a pivotal life stage.¹²

At working age, type 2 diabetes is most common and often progresses silently. Early detection and preventive measures are critical. For those who are diagnosed, primary care that combines glucose control, blood pressure management and statin therapy is the most effective strategy to prevent long-term complications.¹³

In older adulthood, diabetes often coexists with other conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases. Care that is tailored to individual needs and coordinated across health services helps sustain independence and dignity.

Across all life stages, access to essential diabetes medicines, including insulin, and to technologies and ongoing support is critical. A life-course approach enables health systems to act early, prevent complications and ensure continuity of care from childhood through older adulthood.

From commitment to action

These strategies are being put into practice around the world. Countries and partners are translating the WHO Global Diabetes Compact into real-world solutions.

In Uganda, training community health workers and developing peer support groups have strengthened early detection and raised awareness in schools, faith-based organizations and other community settings. In Mexico, national policies tackling key risk factors – including sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, school-based nutrition programmes and promotion of physical activity in the workplace – have helped reduce drivers of type 2 diabetes, demonstrating how multisectoral action can protect health across the life course.

A healthier future is in reach

The WHO Global Diabetes Compact offers a path forward, but success hinges on collective action – by governments, health systems, communities and individuals. This World Diabetes Day is the moment to remind ourselves that we need to move beyond commitments and deliver action, equity and empowerment for every person living with diabetes.

Notes

¹ NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), “Worldwide trends in diabetes prevalence and treatment from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 1108 population-representative studies with 141 million participants”, The Lancet, vol. 404, No. 10467 (November 2024), pp. 2077–2093. Available at https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02317-1/fulltext.

² Ibid.

³ World Health Organization, “Diabetes”, fact sheet, 14 November 2024. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes.

⁴ World Health Organization, World health statistics 2025: Monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals (Geneva, 2025). Available at https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/c992fbdc-11ef-43db-a478-7e7a195403ae/content.

⁵ “Diabetes”, fact sheet.

⁶ International Diabetes Federation, “Diabetes Facts & Figures” (Brussels, 2022). Available at https://idf.org/about-diabetes/diabetes-facts-figures.

⁷ Thaddeus P. Waters and others, “Should women with gestational diabetes be screened at delivery hospitalization for type 2 diabetes?”, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 222, No. 1 (January 2020), 73.e1–73.e11. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2019.07.035.

⁸ Catherine Kim, Katherine M. Newton and Robert H. Knopp, “Gestational diabetes and the incidence of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review”, Diabetes Care, vol. 25, No. 10 (2002), pp. 1862–1868. Available at https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.25.10.1862.

⁹ “Diabetes”, fact sheet.

¹⁰ World Health Organization, “The WHO Global Diabetes Compact”, 2021. Available at https://www.who.int/initiatives/the-who-global-diabetes-compact.

¹¹ World Health Organization, Seventy-Fifth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 22–28 May 2022, Resolutions And Decisions, Annexes (WHA75/2022/REC/1), Annex 9, p. 99. Available at https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA75-REC1/A75_REC1_Interactive_en.pdf.

¹² World Health Organization, WHO recommendations on care for women with diabetes in pregnancy (Geneva, 2025). Available at https://iris.who.int/items/5fed4e5f-9f58-4233-bcee-5fe39fa2e92d.

¹³ World Health Organization, HEARTS D: Diagnosis and Management of Type 2 Diabetes (Geneva, 2020). Available at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-ucn-ncd-20.1.