Diabetes is most prevalent in South Australia and the Northern Territory, new mapping from Diabetes Australia has shown.
It said 58 people per 1,000 were registered as diabetes sufferers in South Australia, and the Northern Territory was close behind with 56 people per 1,000.
“The new map makes the enormity of the diabetes epidemic very clear,” Diabetes Australia chief executive Professor Greg Johnson said.
The data indicated the highest rates were generally in rural and remote areas.
“Country South Australia is the primary health network with the highest prevalence rate, followed very closely by Gippsland in Victoria,” Professor Johnson said.
“There’s also staggering rates of diabetes in our Indigenous communities.”
He said the mapping lets people, including health professionals, analyse the regional data in detail as they look for how best to tackle the issue.
“The map allows people to really drill down by postcode and local government area and that reveals a very alarming impact, with prevalence rates above 20 per cent in some postcodes,” he said.
“It’s estimated that about one third of all our hospital beds in Australia every day are occupied and utilised for people with diabetes or a diabetes-related complication, and most of that is preventable.”
The diabetes incidence is lowest in the ACT, with 40 cases per 1,000 people.