2010-2012 strategy

In December 2006, the world’s governments unanimously passed a United Nations Resolution on diabetes, recognizing that diabetes is a chronic, debilitating and costly disease and agreeing to act on diabetes prevention, treatment and care. That Resolution was spearheaded by the International Diabetes Federation and is the mandate for the Federation’s Strategic Plan 2010-2012 and beyond.

More than 300 million people have diabetes; representing 6% of the world’s adult population, with numbers increasing fast everywhere. An additional seven million people develop the disease each year. By 2025, The Federation estimates that 380 million people will have diabetes, with the greatest burden falling on low and middle-income countries. It is causing premature  death in both children and adults, and devastating complications including amputations, kidney and heart disease. The cost of diabetes is challenging health systems even in the wealthiest countries. In low-income countries, it threatens to reverse health and economic progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals. In most cases diabetes can be prevented, and where it cannot be prevented, it can be treated  so lives can be saved and those affected can continue their lives uninterrupted.

The International Diabetes Federation is a not-for-profit umbrella organization of over 200 national diabetes associations worldwide. We see ourselves as the ‘global voice of diabetes’ and an influential advocate for people directly and indirectly affected by diabetes. The Federation’s seven Regional Offices are the interface between our national member associations and global headquarters in Brussels, and are critical for the delivery of our advocacy and programmes.

The International Diabetes Federation and its member associations have been effective in raising awareness of and providing the evidence on diabetes. The Federation’s Diabetes Atlas is a respected source of diabetes statistics and World Diabetes Day is celebrated throughout the world. Our World Diabetes Congress brings together more than 15,000 diabetes advocates every two years.

The World Health Organization’s Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2008-2013 focuses on the four major non-communicable diseases—diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases, which account for 35 million deaths every year. More remains to be done to engage decision makers at international and national levels to ensure necessary resources are allocated to non-communicable diseases and that health services are equipped to deal with the double burden of communicable and non-communicable disease.

The IDF Strategic Plan is written at a time when the global financial crisis is a challenge to governments and their ability to address the needs of people with diabetes, a challenge to families and individuals who need to pay for treatment, and a challenge to IDF and our member associations who need to raise sufficient funding to tackle the diabetes epidemic. The Federation plans to increase its funding and diversify its funding sources. We aim to expand our strategic alliances with governments, industry, civil society and international organizations to carry forward our mission.

The International Diabetes Federation has people power—our more than 200 associations have two million members and a combined income of over USD 500 million. In the period 2010–2012 we will harness the weight of our Federation to begin to turn the tide of the still too silent epidemic of diabetes.

We are a diverse and inclusive multi-cultural network of national diabetes associations, and an authoritative global voice in non-communicable diseases. We uphold our independence and integrity in everything we do.

Our business is to ensure that the needs of all people affected by diabetes are met so they can live their lives unhindered by the disease.

Our constituencies include people with diabetes; people at risk of diabetes; families affected by diabetes; governments; health professionals; pharmaceutical, food and other industries; education and research institutions; employers; and the wider community.

Our greatest strength lies in the capacity of our membership and our ability to ground our global advocacy in the reality of local experience. Our members give us access to a massive volunteering force that we will mobilize for good in the years ahead.

Our strategic goals

  • To drive change at all levels, from local to global, to prevent diabetes and increase access to essential medicines
  • To develop and encourage best practice in diabetes policy, management and education
  • To advance diabetes treatment, prevention and cure through scientific research
  • To advance and protect the rights of people with diabetes, and combat discrimination

Our key priorities

The Federation will:

  • Be the authoritative and independent global advocate for people living with diabetes
  • Expand and strengthen  the IDF’s network of national member associations
  • Strengthen IDF’s regional infrastructure
  • Strengthen and disseminate the evidence base for diabetes
  • Increase access to an interdisciplinary approach to the management of diabetes
  • Increase the global impact of IDF’s diabetes education initiatives
  • Establish a global diabetes Knowledge Exchange
  • Promote and disseminate leading edge scientific research on diabetes
  • Build a civil society alliance on non-communicable diseases
  • Expand and diversify IDF’s funding sources.

Priorities and outcomes

1. Be the authoritative and independent global advocate for people living with diabetes

  • A strong global diabetes community supporting an IDF led global agenda to improve care for and protect the rights of people living with diabetes.
  • The World Diabetes Congress in Dubai 2011 expanded to mobilize a broad cross section of society including government, non-health sectors, civil society, media and people with diabetes.

2. Expand and strengthen the IDF’s network of national member associations

  • IDF national member associations have access to an increased range of services from IDF including capacity building; twinning programmes; sharing of best practice and information through the regional offices.
  • The number of IDF national member associations increased by a minimum of 10% between 2010 and 2012.

3. Strengthen IDF’s regional infrastructure

  • Needs analysis for the IDF regional office network undertaken in 2010 and its recommendations implemented by 2012.
  • Fixed locations agreed for all seven regional offices by the middle of 2010 to enable capacity building of the regional office function.

4. Strengthen  and disseminate the evidence base for diabetes

  • A list of priority areas for which evidence is required, agreed and reviews, models and studies commissioned to provide the evidence on diabetes by 2012.
  • Evidence regarding the epidemiology and economics of diabetes disseminated at international meetings, in peer- reviewed publications, and via an annual global diabetes update throughout 2010-2012.

5. Increase access to an interdisciplinary approach to the management of diabetes

  • National associations supported to lobby for a multidisciplinary approach to diabetes management and education.
  • People with diabetes have improved access to interdisciplinary diabetes education and management

6. Increase the global impact of IDF’s diabetes  education initiatives

  • Member associations and regions are integrated into planning and implementation of IDF education initiatives.
  • Situational analysis completed in 2010 to assess the status of diabetes education globally and used for evidenced based policy initiatives.

7.  Establish a global diabetes Knowledge Exchange

  • Tools developed to disseminate relevant information on diabetes treatment, management and prevention.
  • Authoritative guidelines produced to set global standards on important aspects of diabetes treatment, management and prevention.

8.  Promote and disseminate leading edge scientific research on diabetes

  • High-quality scientific analysis of the pathophysiology and diagnosis of diabetes is performed in different populations.
  • Research on the prevention, management and treatment of diabetes in different locations is disseminated by publication in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice (DRCP) and other high-impact journals.

9.  Build a civil society alliance on non-communicable diseases

  • An effective global civil society alliance on non-communicable diseases established by 2011 with diabetes given proper recognition.
  • A leading role played by IDF at global, regional and local levels to support implementation of the WHO Action Plan on prevention of non-communicable disease 2008-2013.

10. Expand and diversify IDF’s funding sources

  • The 2009 External Relations Strategy for IDF implemented by 2012 resulting in an increase of 25% in funds generated (from 2009) and total funds drawn from more diverse sources.
  • The profit from the World Diabetes Congress in Dubai in 2011 is a minimum of 5% higher than the profit from the World Diabetes Congress in Montreal 2009.