Preventing diabetes and detecting it early were at the heart of doctors’ appeal on World Diabetes Day. Around 142,000 people with the disease are registered in North Macedonia, while an estimated 40,000 more may have it without knowing. Patients, meanwhile, are calling for more opportunities to obtain glucose monitoring sensors and insulin pumps.
Data for the country show that type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 95 percent of cases. Irfan Ameti, director of the Endocrinology Clinic, called for a focus on the factors that contribute to the development of the disease, particularly this type. He said that identifying and addressing these factors in time aims first to prevent prediabetes and then type 2 diabetes.
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Ameti illustrated the disease’s growing prevalence by comparing global figures: five years ago, one in every 11 people had diabetes; today, the ratio has reached one in every 9. Around 593 million people worldwide currently live with diabetes, and projections show that the number could exceed 850 million by 2050. Referring to the country, he said that alongside around 135,000 people with diabetes, approximately 40,000 more have the disease but have not yet been diagnosed.
For patient associations, expanding the use of sensors that continuously monitor glucose remains a top priority. So far, these devices have been provided to around 800 people with type 1 diabetes. The goal is for coverage to reach around 80 percent of patients with a medical indication for sensors and insulin pumps over the next two or three years.
Dimçe Velev, president of the Union of Diabetes Associations of Macedonia, recalled that for many years they have been calling for sensors or glucose monitoring systems to be provided to everyone with type 1 diabetes in Macedonia. He explained that the 800 people who have received them so far include all children and young people up to the age of 25. Velev called for the number of recipients to increase as soon as possible through a gradual expansion that would make it possible to reach around 80 percent coverage within two or three years.
Health Minister Sasho Klekovski emphasized healthy eating, physical activity and changes in lifestyle habits. He said that physical activity, even without other lifestyle changes, can help reduce type 2 diabetes cases by 5%.
Klekovski also raised concerns about how the results of preventive checkups are handled. He said that almost 200,000 routine periodic checkups were carried out in 2025, including blood glucose measurements, but no one reads the results. The minister said he assumes that at least 10 percent of the results show elevated glucose levels and are not recorded in any health system because paper forms are still being used.
The message to the public on World Diabetes Day was not to put off blood sugar testing until symptoms appear. Doctors stressed that early detection and access to treatment are essential to preventing complications and improving quality of life.
