Biswarup Ganguly / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Cropped.
Madhya Pradesh's health system identified about six lakh more people with diabetes in a single year. Figures from the national programme for non-communicable diseases show 18.24 lakh identified patients in 2024-25 and 24.23 lakh in 2025-26, Dainik Bhaskar reported on World Diabetes Day. Jabalpur district has the most, 1.56 lakh, and Balaghat's count rose 74 per cent in a year.
A rising count of identified patients does not by itself mean the disease is spreading that fast. It also reflects how many people are being tested. Survey numbers suggest screening still has far to go.
The sixth National Family Health Survey found that 18.3 per cent of men and 14.5 per cent of women aged 15 and above in the state had high blood sugar or were on medicine for it. Among urban men the share was 21.6 per cent, roughly one in five. In a state of more than eight crore people, those shares point to far more than 24 lakh people with high sugar.
A new International Diabetes Federation survey helps explain the gap. It estimates that 38.6 million adults in India have diabetes without knowing it, 43 per cent of all adults with the condition. Among 502 Indian adults surveyed, 35 per cent named fear of the result as a reason to avoid screening, and only 14 per cent thought they were likely to develop type 2 diabetes, The Hindu reported.
Undiagnosed diabetes is what fills hospital wards later with kidney failure, foot ulcers and failing eyesight. This year's theme for the day is early action. In Madhya Pradesh, the first step is still finding the patients.
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