Health

India Faces 38.6 Million Undiagnosed Diabetes Cases, Survey Finds

By Rhythma Kaul

A new survey commissioned by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates that 38.6 million adults in India have undiagnosed diabetes, representing 43 % of the 89.8 million adults living with the condition. The study, released ahead of World Diabetes Day on November 14, surveyed 502 adults aged 25 to 64 across India, Brazil, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United States. It found that many adults at increased risk of type 2 diabetes underestimate their personal risk and are unsure how to access testing services.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) explains that type 2 diabetes occurs when blood glucose levels are too high. Symptoms develop slowly over several years and can be mild enough to go unnoticed. The survey revealed a gap between people’s belief in the value of testing and their perception of personal risk: 84 % agreed that a diabetes risk check is worthwhile even when they feel healthy, but only 14 % believed they were likely to develop type 2 diabetes, despite nearly every respondent reporting at least two known risk factors.

Three‑quarters of respondents (75 %) incorrectly believed that people with pre‑diabetes usually have noticeable symptoms, the highest misconception among the six countries studied. Nearly half (48 %) said they would not feel confident arranging a diabetes risk check. The most common barrier to testing was fear of the results (35 %), followed by not believing they were at risk (25 %) and difficulty getting a clinic appointment (22 %). Practical and emotional barriers included embarrassment about discussing a check with a clinician (18 %) and language or communication difficulties (12 %).

Dr Banshi Saboo, chair of the IDF South‑East Asia Region, said India cannot close the diagnosis gap by waiting for people to come forward. She called for community campaigns, local pharmacies, evening and weekend clinics and information in people’s own languages to make testing feel ordinary.

The IDF’s diagnosis scorecard for India, based on the IDF Diabetes Atlas 11th edition, shows that 57 % of adults with diabetes in the country have been diagnosed, falling short of the World Health Organization’s global target of 80 % by 2030. Achieving that target would require about 20.7 million additional diagnoses, roughly 13,700 per day until the end of 2030.

Diabetes‑related health spending in India reached $9.8 billion in 2024, largely directed toward treating serious complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, vision loss and lower‑limb amputation. A diabetes check costs a fraction of that.

Professor Peter Schwarz, IDF president, noted that a quarter of a billion people worldwide live with diabetes without knowing it. He emphasized that awareness of diabetes is not the same as awareness of one’s own risk, and that closing the diagnosis gap requires people at risk to recognize their own risk factors.