Diabetes is the most widespread health epidemic in the world and threatens to cripple Australia's health system, an Australian diabetes expert says.
Diabetes Australia chief executive Greg Johnson says with 380 million people worldwide living with the disease - and about 1.2 million in Australia - it's time to be serious about prevention.
New data released on Wednesday shows more than 1.17 million Australians have diabetes, or 4.9 per cent of the population.
"This is a massive epidemic," Prof Johnson said at the Australian Diabetes Society annual conference in Adelaide on Thursday.
"It's been said that the diabetes epidemic is the biggest health epidemic to ever affect the world and the human race.
"It's bigger than the influenza epidemic in the 20th century. We need to take it seriously and do much more."
Prof Johnson said the total number of global cases was doubling every 10 to 15 years.
A new interactive map launched at the conference reveals South Australia as having the highest rate of diabetes at 5.8 per cent of the population while the ACT has the lowest rate at four per cent.
The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of type 2 diabetes sufferers (91.9 per cent of all cases), as well as the second-highest overall rate at 5.6 per cent.
Prof Johnson said the numbers were, in part, a reflection of the socioeconomic conditions across the nation.
"Diabetes disproportionately affects poorer communities, rural and regional communities, and Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities," he said.
"There's more poor diets, there's less physical activity, there's more obesity, there's less access to services that might help prevent chronic disease and diabetes."
About 280 new cases are recorded in Australia each day and all forms of the disease - type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes - are on the rise.
Type 2 diabetes, a progressive condition that generally develops as a result of health and lifestyle factors, accounts for 85 to 90 per cent of all cases.
The conference was told the disease costs the nation $14.6 billion each year.
"Diabetes is still the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults," Prof Johnson said.
"It's a leading preventable cause of kidney damage and it increases your risk of heart attack and stroke by up to four times."
