The document from the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), released on World Diabetes Day which was staged on Tuesday, shows that diabetes mortality rates have been decreasing, and that 2015 was the year with the lowest standardised mortality rate, with 19.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Diabetes kills between 2,200 and 2,500 women a year and about 1,600 to 1,900 men, which means it accounts for more than 4 percent of female deaths and 3 percent of male deaths.
The disease affects more than 13 percent of the Portuguese population and it is estimated that 44 percent of people with diabetes have yet to be diagnosed.
Health centres carry out assessments of the risk of developing diabetes, but the National Programme for the disease proposes an increase in the number of new early diagnoses.
From 2015 to 2016, the number of risk assessments for developing diabetes declined from 621,000 to less than 619,000.
By 2020, the DGS aims to increase the number of new diagnoses by 30, through early diagnosis, reduce premature mortality from diabetes by 5 percent, and reduce the development of diabetes in 30,000 at-risk users.
In regional terms, diabetes is more prevalent in the Alentejo region and in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the Algarve being the region with the lowest prevalence.
In related news, every child under the age of 18 with type 1 diabetes will receive free insulin pumps in two years’ time, according to a Health ministry spokesperson.
Free access to the pumps will be implemented in three stages: by the end of this year every child aged under 10 will receive a free pump, by the end of 2018 the same will happen for every child aged under 14 and finally, by the end of 2019 free insulin pumps will be extended to every child under the age of 18.
According to the health ministry spokesperson, the three-stage implementation will be used to provide regular training and practice to patients and their families on how to use the insulin pumps.
The health ministry added that a centralised purchase process for insulin pumps led to a 45 percent discount on the regular price, saving a total of €600,000.
This comes after it was revealed that almost 10,000 lower limb amputations have been performed on diabetics in Portugal over the last seven years, and this is considered one of the most serious complications of the disease.
However, the number of amputations has declined steadily since 2013. Last year more than 1,000 amputations of feet, ankles or legs were carried out although 2016 was the year with the lowest amputations registered, according to official figures.
The highest number of amputations continues to be of feet with 604 made last year while 433 amputations were performed at the thigh, calf or ankle level.
Kidney disease is another common complication of diabetes, with an incidence of chronic kidney disease of approximately 33 percent.
Diabetic retinopathy also commonly affects diabetic patients and causes blindness. In 2016, the number of screenings for diabetic retinopathy increased by more than 30 percent with 38,045 more screenings performed out of a total of over 158,000. Diabetes is also linked to poor eating habits, and 55 percent of people with diabetes are obese.