12 Chapter 1 Figure 2: Percentage of Non-communicable disease deaths occurring under 70 years in 2019. Countries in the WHO African Region have the highest percentage of deaths (WHO Non-communicable Diseases Data Portal, 2023: https://ncdportal.org/)) Globally, an estimated 537 million adults live with diabetes, and over three-quarters reside in LMICs [19]. Already responsible for 6.7 million deaths annually, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that 783 million people will be living with diabetes by 2045 [19]. An estimated 24 million adults live with diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 54% of these are undiagnosed [20]. In 2021, 416,000 diabetes-related deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa [20]. Furthermore, the number of people living with diabetes in the region is projected to increase to 55 million by 2045 [20,21] (Figure 3). This projected increase in diabetes cases will significantly burden diabetes control, increase healthcare costs, and impact residents’ quality of life and socioeconomic status. Substantial expenses will go to diabetes care as most people in Sub-Saharan Africa pay out of pocket, thus elevating catastrophic costs for healthcare [22,23]. With weak health systems, limited health infrastructure, financing, and capacity for diabetes care compared to high-income countries, increased diabetes prevalence will increase the risks for diabetic complications and death in low-resource settings, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa [24,25].
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