More than 708,000 people in Israel were living with diabetes in 2024, including one in three people ages 65 to 84, according to newly reported Health Ministry figures. The data show a much heavier burden in poorer communities, where diabetes is both more common and less well controlled.
The findings were published for the first time in a November 7 report by Or Hadar, citing the ministry’s National Center for Disease Control. These are 2024 registry figures, not a count of people newly diagnosed this year.
Age and economic circumstances make a big difference
The report counted 708,553 people ages 2 and older living with diabetes, representing 7.5% of that population. Among people ages 65 to 84, the rate was 33.4%.
The gap between socioeconomic groups was also large. Among people ages 55 to 64 in the lower socioeconomic group, 25.7% had diabetes, compared with 11.3% in the higher socioeconomic group. In plain terms, roughly one in four people in the lower group had the disease, compared with about one in nine in the higher group.
Those comparisons cover the same age range, rather than comparing younger people with older people.
Health officials want more targeted programs
Prof. Lital Keinan-Boker, director of the National Center for Disease Control, called for continued development of targeted programs to reduce severe complications and the burden on patients and the public, according to the report.
Nutrition information by phone, without internet
The ministry’s response includes a telephone-based audio course on nutrition designed for the ultra-Orthodox community. People can use it without an internet connection, making the information available through an ordinary phone.
Dr. Moran Blaychfeld-Magnazi, head of the ministry’s Nutrition Division, also described interventions in ultra-Orthodox yeshivas. In pre-military academies, the ministry introduced a healthy-eating standard for catered lunches and taught cooking and shopping skills to participants who prepare their own evening meals.
The report also describes obesity clinics established in Arab communities and funding criteria intended to help health plans build services suited to different communities.
The practical point is access: information and services need to reach people in the places where they learn, eat and receive care. A phone course and work inside yeshivas are examples of adapting that approach to daily life.
JBizNews Desk | Israel
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