Quick facts about type 1 diabetes
- Approximately 400,000 people are currently living with type 1 diabetes in the UK, including around 29,000 children.
- The number of new diagnoses of type 1 diabetes (also known as the incidence) is increasing by about four per cent each year.
- In children under five, the incidence of type 1 diabetes is rising by five per cent each year.
- Among children with diabetes in England and Wales, 96 per cent have type 1 diabetes.
- Around 85 per cent of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have no family history of the condition.
- Although it used to be referred to as ‘juvenile diabetes’, around half of newly diagnosed cases of type 1 diabetes are in people over the age of 18.
- The UK has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world, for reasons that are currently unknown.
- A person with type 1 diabetes will have around 65,000 injections and measure their blood glucose more than 80,000 times in their lifetime.
Public information resources
National Diabetes Audit – One of the largest annual clinical audits in the world. It measures the effectiveness of diabetes care against National Institute of Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines and quality standards.
Quality and Outcomes Framework – This is the annual programme that details GP practice achievement results and rewards practices for the achievement of quality care. The QOF awards practices achievement points for managing some of the most common chronic diseases, diabetes being one.
