The global community is waking up to the potentially calamitous impact across all regions of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The numbers are alarming. In 2005, chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancers, accounted for 60% of deaths worldwide and almost half of the global burden of disease. Today, cardiovascular disease is the world's number one cause of mortality: 17 million deaths each year. The number of people with diabetes is set to rise from the current 238 million to 440 million by 2030.