Diabetes drug prescriptions soar by 8.2 million
It meant the 2020/21 diabetes medication and gadget bill made up 12.5 percent of the total spent on all prescriptions issued by GPs, pharmacists and other primary care services.
The drugs included common medications such as insulin and metformin, as well as devices used to monitor blood sugar levels.
Bridget Turner, policy and campaigns chief at Diabetes UK, said the figures were not surprising.
She said: “Diagnoses have almost doubled in the past 15 years. So, while this rise in diabetes drug prescriptions was to be expected, the increased prevalence of diabetes in the UK is a huge concern.
“Diabetes is serious – and that is why we have called on the UK Government to put people living with the condition at the heart of its postpandemic health agenda.”
More than 4.9 million people are thought to be living with diabetes, 90 percent of them with Type 2, which is often linked to lifestyle factors.
