London Diabetes Challenge

Diabetes is a common metabolic disease which affects people globally. In the period 1996 to 2009, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK rose from 1.4 million to 2.6 million. In 2008 alone, more than 145,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes in the UK; equivalent to 3 new diagnosis every 10 minutes. In 2010, the number of people affected by diabetes globally was estimated to be approximately 285 million; by 2030 this number is expected to have risen to 438 million.

Diabetes - the cost to the UK per annum

Each year 24,000 diabetes sufferers in the UK die early. Diabetes costs the UK National Health Service £9.8 billion each year, largely due to complications such as amputations, blindness, kidney failure and stroke. This cost is set to increase significantly over the next 20 years; diabetes is projected to account for 17% of the entire NHS budget. Diabetes also results in increased costs to social care: Over 100 amputations are carried out each week in the UK because of complications connected to diabetes; 80% of these amputations are preventable. Postoperative care is a significant burden on social care services, communities and families.

What can be done?

Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, however, up to 80% of type 2 diabetes can be abated by adapting lifestyle and eliminating risk factors. Some of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes, such as genotype, age or ethnic background cannot be changed, however, weight regulation, cessation of smoking, healthy eating and active lifestyle may substantially reduce or even eliminate the risk of the disease. NICE guidance supports the NHS Health Check Programme as a cost effective intervention and it is stated that up to 9,700 cases of Type 2 diabetes could be prevented each year through finding non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (pre-diabetes).

Your challenge

Government intervention in population health is well documented. Nudging citizens into healthier lifestyles by making alternatives difficult has opposition, but there are many good examples of such policies being practiced: The clearest example of this is the ban on cigarette advertisements, and later on smoking in public places; London, like other cities, has looked at using the planning system to control takeaway outlets, and published calorie counts against menu options in selected restaurants; the urban planning system has also come under scrutiny when considering the relationship between greenspace, physical activity levels and health.

This London-focussed challenge, involves you using real-world, multi-source data to identify areas of London that have the highest urban- and population-based risk of pre-diabetes. Using your findings the GLA, the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, will target which Wards it should focus its limited resources on to improve population pre-diabetic health.

Provided Data

Please download the accompanying document to guide you on identifying relevant data, modelling, and presenting your results.