The cost of diabetes prescriptions for the NHS has surpassed £1 billion for the first time, according to new data. In the 2017/18 financial year, the health service spent £1,012,400,000 on medications for the condition, a rise of £29 million from the previous year. This represents 11.4 per cent of all NHS prescribing costs, which total £8.87 billion.
The number of diabetes prescriptions has nearly doubled since 2008, from 22.6 million to 53.4 million items. There are now almost 3.7 million adults in the UK diagnosed with diabetes, a 37 per cent increase since 2010. Type 2 diabetes accounts for nine out of ten cases and is often linked to obesity and inactive lifestyles.
Robin Hewings, head of policy at Diabetes UK, said: 'Diabetes is the biggest threat to the health of our country. The number of people diagnosed with the condition has doubled in the last 20 years, and it is responsible for 26,000 early deaths per year alongside serious complications such as blindness, amputation or stroke.' He added that the total cost to the NHS is estimated at over £10 billion a year, including complications.
The rise in type 2 diabetes is partly attributed to increasing obesity rates. At least a quarter of British adults are obese, and figures show one in 20 children are severely obese. The UK is the fattest nation in Western Europe, with 62 per cent of adults classified as overweight.
