Diabetes Vic warns of 'silent diabetes'

Diabetes Victoria has celebrated its 70‐year anniversary and reported that diabetes prevalence is continuing to grow at a concerning rate. In the last 15 years, the number of Victorians living with diabetes has almost doubled and is expected to break through the 400,000 mark this year, according to Diabetes Victoria.

Glenn Noonan, Diabetes Victoria CEO, recognises now is the time to create a brighter future for people living with or at risk of diabetes, as the growth of the condition across the country is not slowing.

“We know almost 32,000 Victorians were diagnosed with diabetes in the last year alone, so we expect to bypass the 400,000 mark later this year,” Noonan said.

“This is such a significant number of people who are living every day, 24 hours a day with this complex condition and we know the only answer to ensure a brighter future for people is by working together across the committed diabetes community.”

The Victorian diabetes community reported 62,500 people in 1990. This rate has grown significantly since then — reportedly to 200,000 Victorians in 2007 and 383,000 Victorians in 2022.

Noonan said, “On top of this, there are many people out there in the community who have developed diabetes but do not know it yet — so called ‘silent diabetes’.

“The estimated prevalence figure of diabetes in the Victorian community is much higher as it can take several years for a person with type 2 diabetes to receive a diagnosis — a long time in which the untreated condition can create significant and often irreversible damage in the body.

“As we celebrate 70 years of our organisation working with the diabetes community, we are sure those people who started Diabetes Victoria in 1953 would have hoped we were no longer needed in 2023.

“However, the unfortunate truth is we are needed more than ever. We believe everyone in the Victorian diabetes community deserves to have a future where less people are diagnosed with diabetes, where the condition is less of a burden on people living with diabetes, where diabetes causes less complications and where we do achieve a cure.

“We are looking to be ambitious and bold to pursue this bright future. A future with goals and plans to improve the management of diabetes, to provide effective and early interventions to reduce avoidable complications and that help people live long and healthy lives, and importantly a future where people can live more confident lives without stigma and discrimination.

“We want to see a world where breakthroughs in new treatments and care are made available to all people, regardless of their socio‐economic status.

“I am convinced that to achieve this requires a massive step change in many aspects — including how diabetes is understood, how it is funded by government and industry and how diabetes care is provided within the health system.

“With all the challenges and the complexity of living in our community and the growing prevalence of diabetes it will take the entire diabetes community and all the skills and capabilities to come together — no one group alone can solve this,” he said.

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