By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. May 25, 2016: Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir Hilary Beckles, recently put the spotlight on the rising incidence of diabetes in the Caribbean while officially opening the second staging of the World Family Doctor Day Conference. According to the International Diabetes Federation, one adult in eight has diabetes in the North America and Caribbean region. So which are the Caribbean nations with the most diabetes cases in the region? Here are the top 10:
1: Cuba
According to latest IDF figures, Cuba leads the Caribbean region with the most cases of diabetes. There were over 1 million cases of diabetes in Cuba in 2015.
2: The Dominican Republic
Second on the top 10 ranks – and not in a good way – is the Spanish Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic. There were 505,700 cases of diabetes in Dominican Republic in 2015 according to latest IDF figures.
3: Puerto Rico
The third most impacted nation in the region is the Caribbean, U-S. Territory of Puerto Rico, with a whopping 365,100 cases of diabetes in 2015 according to the IDF data.
4: Haiti
Coming in at fourth is the French Caribbean nation of Haiti with 332,200 cases of diabetes in Haiti in 2015 according to latest IDF data.
5: Jamaica
Jamaica was fifth overall with 202,600 cases of diabetes in  2015.
6: Trinidad and Tobago
The sixth most affect nation is the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with 140,300 cases of diabetes in 2015 according to latest IDF data.
7: Guyana
There were 49,800 cases of diabetes in Guyana in 2015 making it the seventh most impacted nation in the region.
8: Barbados
In Barbados, there were 34,100 cases of diabetes in 2015, making it the eight most impacted nation in the Caribbean according to the IDF statistics.
9: Belize
Belize had 28,700 cases of diabetes in 2015, ranking ninth of the top ten list.
10: Curacao
Rounding out the top 10 is the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao with 18,300 cases of diabetes in 2015.
Globally, it is estimated that almost 382 million people suffer from diabetes. North America and the Caribbean are the region with the higher prevalence of the disease with some 37 million people affected.
There are an estimated 107,300 children living with type 1 diabetes in the North America and Caribbean Region, with 16,500 children newly diagnosed each year. The total number of diabetes-attributable deaths was 324,000 in the region. Diabetes-related mortality in the North America and Caribbean Region was not limited to older age groups, with over one third (38.3 percent) of deaths occurring in adults under the age of 60.
