Nauru and Mauritius: Barometers of a Global Diabetes Epidemic

Our studies of the secular rises in type 2 diabetes in the Pacific island of Nauru and Indian Ocean island of Mauritius have provided a barometer to predict the epidemic globally. There has been an almost 6-fold increase in the number of people with diabetes in the last few decades. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has reported that the number of people with diabetes will escalate from 285 million to 438 million between 2010 and 2030 and the number of persons with IGT will grow from 344 to 472 million. This means that by 2030, there will be over 900 million people globally with or at high risk of diabetes and its associated 2 to 3-fold cardiovascular risk. Diabetes is now a global epidemic with devastating health, social and economic consequences and one of the largest epidemics in human history. This is now imposing a huge burden on health-care systems and national economies.