Diabetes by the numbers - time for better accountability

A report in today's Winnipeg Free Press says that there are 67,000 Manitobans with diabetes and that the cost of treating Manitobans with diabetes is $193 million each year. There are clearly some problems with these numbers. The costs of diabetes may in fact be seriously underestimated. Using the above numbers, the annual cost of care for those with diabetes is $2,881 per person. Using 2004 figures, we know that the public health care costs in Manitoba (provincial and federal) were $3,206 per person. It can not be correct that individuals with diabetes cost the health care system less than the average. When I have asked people to give me an estimate of the relative cost to the health care system of a person with diabetes compared to the average, I usually get back - probably twice as much as the average, possible four or five times the average. I suspect that a variety of health care costs related to diabetes are not being counted. It is time for better accountability in health care and this is an example.