**2. Prevalence, global burden and increasing incidence of diabetes**

Several statistics from various scientific studies on the incidence, prevalence and global burden of diabetes mellitus are available. While there might be minor discrepancies in these statis‐ tics, the consensus is that they are ominous and call for urgent and definitive action on this disease [11,12].

DM is estimated to affect 2.8% of the world's population at present and projected to cross 5.4% mark by 2025 [13]. Over the last decades, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus has reached epidemic proportions in Western societies, and is even higher in some developing countries [14 -16]. According to Shaw *et al.* [17], the world's prevalence of diabetes among adults (aged 20–79 years) will be 6.4%, affecting 285 million adults, in 2010, and will increase to 7.7%, and 439 million adults by 2030 and, between 2010 and 2030, there will be a 69% increase in numbers of adults with diabetes in developing countries and a 20% increase in developed countries. More recently, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimated that in 2011 there were 366 million people with diabetes and this was expected to rise to 552 million by 2030 [18]. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) reported that 151 million people had diabetes in the 172 IDF member countries with a forecast that 334 million people will have the disease in 2025 [19]. The human cost of diabetes has been put at one death every 10 seconds [20].

Zhang *et al.*[21] estimated that global health expenditures to prevent and treat diabetes and its complications would be at US dollar (USD) 376 billion in 2010 and that by 2030, this number will exceed USD490 billion. In addition, diabetes leads to loss in productivity and economic growth. The American Diabetes Association estimated that the US economy lost USD58 billion, equivalent to about an half of the direct health care expenditure on diabetes in 2007, as a result of lost earnings due to lost work days, restricted activity days, lower productivity at work, mortality and permanent disability caused by diabetes [21]. Diabetes and its complications place huge burdens upon individuals, their careers and families and have crippling effects upon national health services [20].
