In under a decade, the number of prescriptions for diabetes has risen by more almost two thirds and the diabetes drugs bill has increased by half, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
The figures have led to renewed calls for a tax to be introduced on sugar to encourage healthier lifestyles.
The cost of treating diabetes is rising faster than the overall drugs bill and drugs to treat the condition are now accounting for almost one pound in ever ten spent on medicines prescribed by GPs in England.
Cllr Jonathan McShane of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: "The sheer numbers of people with diabetes shows the very real need to help more of the population improve their diets and lead healthy lifestyles. Diabetes has a significant personal cost to those afflicted and a huge financial cost to the NHS, the adult social care system and the economy.
"This is why the LGA is calling for whichever political party makes up the next government to reinvest a small percentage of the VAT received by the Treasury from the sale of sugary foods and drinks into locally-run activity and weight management programmes. This extra money would be a massive boost in the battle to combat obesity and diabetes and has the potential to improve lives and save the public purse many billions of pounds."
The costs are mostly to treat type 2 diabetes which usually strikes adults and is associated with being overweight and unhealthy.
There are almost 3m people in England with diabetes, the equivalent to six per cent of the adult population, and there are thought to be hundreds of thousands more who have not yet been diagnosed.
There are dozens of drugs that can be used in the treatment of diabetes, the most well known is insulin and the most commonly prescribed is metformin. Insulin pumps and monitoring devices are also included in the figures.
The HSCIC data showed that the equivalent of 123,610 items were prescribed every single day.
The most commonly prescribed drug was metformin and prescriptions doubled between 2005/6 to last year to reach more than 18m.
The amount spent per patient last year ranged from £213 to £369 per patient depending on where they were in the country, the drugs used and the severity of their condition.
Kingsley Manning, chairman of the Health and Social Care Information Centre, said: "Today's report brings to light the rising costs for managing diabetes in primary care.
"Diabetes continues to be one of the most prevalent life-threatening conditions in England and now accounts for almost 10 per cent of the drugs bill. Our latest data highlights the growing implications to the NHS and patients of managing this condition."
David Buck, Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund said: “Lifestyle factors, like obesity and lack of exercise, increase the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, but other risk factors like ageing or ethnicity also play a role. Increased spending on these drugs reflects the growth in diabetes but also how the NHS has improved identification and management of diabetes.
"Obesity, whilst still very high, may be levelling off in adults and recent statistics show that children’s lifestyles are improving in general.
"Nonetheless, we should not be complacent, public health priorities should include increasing the public’s understanding of risk factors - particularly diet and physical activity, ageing and ethnicity - supported by broader policies that tackle the causes of obesity."
Simon O'Neill, director of health intelligence at the charity Diabetes UK: "This report reflects the growing scale of diabetes and the fact that the condition is leading to huge costs to the NHS.
"The dramatic increase in cases of type 2 diabetes which we have seen in current years is a huge factor in this spending which overall costs the NHS £10 billion a year. So if the Government wants to reduce this enormous cost - and we can't understand why it wouldn't - we need to see it intervening to ensure that the rise of cases is stemmed.
"One way of doing this is through the already established, but poorly implemented, NHS Health Check programme which has the potential to identify people at high risk of type 2 diabetes and give them the vital support they need to reduce their risk of developing the condition.
"We must remember that medication such as insulin is an essential treatment for people with diabetes to enable them to effectively manage their condition, reduce their risk of devastating complications and ultimately stay alive."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
We Lowcarbers do our bit to reduce the burden on the NHS, ironically though it's the dietary advice dished out by the NHS and DUK for Type 2 diabetes that brings about the need for these expensive drugs.
Graham
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