To mark World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2011, ICN is highlighting its work to fight non-communicable disease. WHO estimates that more than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes. This number is likely to more than double by 2030 without intervention. Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

The potential for nurses to contribute to improvement in the health of populations across the world through attention to chronic disease prevention and care has never been greater.  There is an urgent need for nurses everywhere to take the initiative and engage with all parts of the community and all sectors to address the growing threat chronic diseases pose to global health and well being.

To that aim, ICN has produced several documents on non-communicable disease prevention which are available here:

ICN Fact Sheet on Obesity:

www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/publications/fact_sheets/13d_FS-Obesity.pdf

International Nurses Day Kit 2010: Nurses leading chronic care: www.icn.ch/publications/2010-delivering-quality-serving-communities-nurses-leading-chronic-care/

WHPA NCD Campaign: Together making a difference against NCDs: www.whpa.org/whpa-ncd-campaign.pdf

WHPA Health Improvement Card: http://www.whpa.org/ncd_campaign_health_improvement_card.htm

WHPA statement on NCDs and social determinants of health: www.whpa.org/WHPA_statement_NCD_SDH.pdf