United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged global
action to tackle diabetes, one of the most common non-
communicable diseases and one which affects 350 million people
worldwide - 80 per cent of them in developing nations. "Diabetes
is a development issue. The poor are disproportionately at risk,
and affected families are often pushed further into poverty,"
Mr. Ban stated in his message for World Diabetes Day, observed
annually on 14 November. "Let us commit to greater collective
effort to prevent diabetes and improve the quality of life of
all who suffer from it, particularly the poor and
disadvantaged," he added. Started by the UN World Health
Organization (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation,
World Diabetes Day is celebrated on 14 November to mark the
birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, was
instrumental in the discovery in 1922 of insulin, a life-saving
treatment for diabetes patients. Diabetes is a chronic disease
that occurs either when the pancreas does not