Cost of diabetes to the NHS rising rapidly

A report by the NHS in England has shown that the cost and number of drugs used to treat diabetes has risen by 40 per cent during the last five years. The study, Prescribing for Diabetes in England, revealed that the prevalence of diabetes in England increased from 3.3 per cent in 2004–05 to 4.1 per cent in 2009–10, with the relatively high cost of many of the newer diabetes treatments having a major influence on overall costs.
The report found that primary care units in England dispensed more than 35.5 million different items by prescription for the metabolic disorder, costing nearly GBP650 million in 2009–10. This can be compared with 2004–05, when around 24.8 million items were dispensed, costing GBP458.6 million.
Simon O’Neill, Director of Care, Information and Advocacy at Diabetes UK, commented that “This large rise in diabetes drug prescriptions and costs appears to be equally due to the far greater population of people with diabetes and to the wider prescribing of newer and more expensive therapies.
The long-term costs of poor diabetes management, ie, care for someone who’s had a heart attack or stroke, lost their sight or lower limb, far outweigh those of the drugs that help prevent such devastating complications.”