Chronic diseases such as diabetes are among the most common, costly health issues of today – and impose an increasing economic burden on health care systems worldwide. Global health expenditure on diabetes is expected to reach at least USD 490 billion by 2030 – with diabetes accounting for an estimated 12% of global health expenditure in 2010. Some of these costs are preventable with good diabetes self-management, which has been shown to reduce complications such as microvascular disease, neurologic dysfunction and cardiovascular disease. This report explains how to prevent some of these costs by enabling patients to manage the disease themselves.
