Synthesis: Deriving a Core Set of Recommendations to Optimize Diabetes Care on a Global Scale

Background Diabetes afflicts 382 million people worldwide, with increasing prevalence rates and adverse effects on health, well-being, and society in general. There are many drivers for the complex presentation of diabetes, including environmental and genetic/epigenetic factors. Objective The aim was to synthesize a core set of recommendations from information from 14 countries that can be used to optimize diabetes care on a global scale. Methods Information from 14 papers in this special issue of Annals of Global Health was reviewed, analyzed, and sorted to synthesize recommendations. PubMed was searched for relevant studies on diabetes and global health. Findings Key findings are as follows: (1) Population-based transitions distinguish region-specific diabetes care; (2) biological drivers for diabetes differ among various populations and need to be clarified scientifically; (3) principal resource availability determines quality-of-care metrics; and (4) governmental involvement, independent of economic barriers, improves the contextualization of diabetes care. Core recommendations are as follows: (1) Each nation should assess region-specific epidemiology, the scientific evidence base, and population-based transitions to establish risk-stratified guidelines for diagnosis and therapeutic interventions; (2) each nation should establish a public health imperative to provide tools and funding to successfully implement these guidelines; and (3) each nation should commit to education and research to optimize recommendations for a durable effect. Conclusions Systematic acquisition of information about diabetes care can be analyzed, extrapolated, and then used to provide a core set of actionable recommendations that may be further studied and implemented to improve diabetes care on a global scale.