Social determinants of diabetes and challenges of prevention

The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue 9733, Pages 2204 - 2205, 26 June 2010

doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60840-9Cite or Link Using DO
INigel Unwin a, David Whiting b, Gojka Roglic c

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Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for roughly 90% of all cases of diabetes, is still widely perceived as a disease of affluence that is strongly associated with obesity and physical inactivity.1 This perception is mirrored in policy for international development, with the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) making no mention of diabetes or related chronic diseases. Notably, diabetes was one of a small number of priority public-health conditions that were assessed in a recent publication developed to inform the work of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. The chapter about diabetes illustrates why this disorder and related chronic diseases are key targets for reduction of health inequity worldwide, and specifically in countries with low and middle incomes.2/.../