11 November 2012 – The annual celebration of World Diabetes Day on 14 November is a reminder that diabetes remains one of the most serious and most prevalent chronic health problems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, threatening lives and overall development in several countries in the Region. Risk factors for diabetes are unhealthy eating habits and low physical activity, leading to overweight. These risk factors have been steadily increasing among populations of the Region, with the tragic result that 6 of the 10 nations with the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world are in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. 

It is therefore fitting that for World Diabetes Day 2012, the International Diabetes Federation has adopted the slogan: “Diabetes: let’s protect our future”.