World Diabetes Day is observed on November 14, 2020, because the day marks the birth anniversary of scientist and Nobel laureate Frederick Banting who discovered insulin (in 1922). This year World Diabetic Day falls during the COVID 19 global pandemic which has already taken the lives of well over a million people. People with diabetes are paying a particularly high price of increased morbidity and mortality. Not only do they have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease and death when infected, but many are having difficulty accessing the treatment they need due to disruptions to essential health services.
The pandemic has exacerbated a situation that was already extremely concerning. World Heath Organization (WHO) estimates that 6% of the world’s population has diabetes. The total number today is four times what it was in 1980. What’s more, the number is rising most rapidly in…
