Integrated primary care: is this the solution to the diabetes epidemic?

The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus is rising exponentially across the globe 1, mainly as a result of changes in lifestyle 2. Other factors accounting for this rise include proactive screening, people with diabetes living longer and an ageing general population 3. With the increasing age comes an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases and multimorbidity 4. People with diabetes not only develop complications directly related to the condition, but also often have multimorbidities in addition to their diabetes 4. Despite the challenges the rising prevalence presents, there have been some improvements in mortality rates 5, partly as a result of the increased use of statins, antihypertensive therapies and an increase in smoking cessation rates.