Mission to promote diabetes care, prevention and a cure worldwide

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is taking the opportunity of the 64th American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions to announce its new mission statement that has recently been decided by its Executive Board. “To promote diabetes care, prevention and a cure worldwide” addresses the challenges that face the global diabetes community in the 21st century and better reflects the work that IDF is now doing.

“The new mission will not alter IDF’s main aim of representing all people with all forms of diabetes and those who care for and about them. IDF will continue to strive to lessen the impact of diabetes upon the quality of life of those currently living with diabetes”, said Professor Pierre Lefèbvre, President of IDF.

Promoting the best possible care for all those in the world who have to live with all forms of diabetes remains the core activity of IDF. The Federation is working to increase access to and improve the quality of the care that is currently available and will continue to do this in close collaboration with its 185 member associations in 145 countries in its seven regions.

At the same time, we know today that the only way to curb the rise in the diabetes pandemic is through prevention programmes, and the Federation is aware of the need to be proactive in this. A recent survey of IDF member associations indicated that more than three quarters of them are now already involved in the primary prevention of diabetes and that most are seeking to reduce the risks of diabetes complications. It is through the promotion of diabetes prevention that we strive to ensure that the millions who are living with diabetes today will not face a future decline in the quality of their care as the many millions who are predicted to develop diabetes compete for limited resources.

Finally, while IDF does not support research directly, through awareness and education it encourages the efforts of those who seek to further our understanding of the causes of the various forms of diabetes and ultimately aim to find a cure for the various forms of diabetes.

Whilst the vision of living in a world without diabetes may seem an impossible dream, IDF is dedicated to promoting the best possible care, to promoting the message of the need for prevention programmes to those in a position to facilitate change, and, for those with diabetes, to finding a cure.