The U.S. death toll from diabetes reached 100,000 in 2021 — matching the previous years’ record-breaking number, according to an exclusive analysis of federal data from Reuters.
Deaths related to the chronic disease rose 17% in 2020 and 15% in 2021 when compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, the news outlet reported. The estimate excluded COVID-19 deaths and was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Experts see the swiftly growing problem as cause for alarm. In response, the National Clinical Care Commission, created by Congress, has released a new report advocating for a broad-based policy solutions that consider diabetes not only as a medical problem, but as a societal one. The report recommends promotion of healthier food consumption, paid maternal leave, the taxing of sugary drinks and expanded access to affordable housing, among other things.
It’s a “federal mobilization along the lines of the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Reuters investigators wrote.
“We aren’t going to cure the problem of diabetes in the United States with medical interventions,” William Herman, M.D., of the University of Michigan, told the news outlet. “The idea is to pull something together across federal agencies, so they are systematically talking to one another.”
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