A study in the Cook Islands found high rates of diabetes, particularly among women and those aged 45-64, suggesting a need for earlier screening and increased awareness campaigns.

Cook Islands faces mounting pressure to address diabetes alongside other competing population health needs and priorities.

This is according to the latest issue of the Pacific Health Review, which features a research article on diabetes in the Cook Islands, discussed by Sir Colin Tukuitonga and Dr Roannie Ng Shiu.

The study investigated the prevalence of prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes in the Cook Islands, identifying 1270 cases of type 2 diabetes, 54 cases of prediabetes, and 146 cases of gestational diabetes.

Of the type 2 diabetes cases, 53 per cent were female, and half were aged between 45 and 64 years. Notably, 20 women with gestational diabetes developed type 2 diabetes (80 per cent before the age of 40).

Data analysed were from two Te Marae Ora Cook Islands Ministry of Health datasets: the Non-Communicable Diseases register for 1967–2018 and the gestational diabetes register for 2009–2018.

The report highlights type 2 diabetes as a major public health concern for Pacific populations.

A study conducted on Rarotongan women in their second trimester from 2009 to December 2012 identified 646 with glucose challenges.

Between 1967 and 2018, 1270 diabetes cases were registered in the Cook Islands, the report stated. Additionally, 54 prediabetes cases and 146 gestational diabetes diagnoses were recorded between January 2009 and December 2018.

The report concluded that diabetes poses a significant burden on the Cook Islands, with higher rates among women and individuals aged 45–64.

The findings suggested the need for earlier diabetes screening for Cook Islands women and increased awareness campaigns regarding the risks to both mother and child, including information about foetal abnormalities and childbirth complications.

The report highlighted the importance of the Cook Islands diabetes registers in informing preventive and treatment measures for diabetes. A dedicated data analyst has been employed to ensure quality, regularly audited data and information systems.

The authors include former Secretary of Health Dr Josephine Herman, former director of hospital health services Dr Yin Yin May (Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners), Machaela Tepai, Vili Nosa, Atefeh Kiadarbandsari, and John Sluyter.