Description
Diabetes is a national health priority, having a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the Australian population. An estimated 1.7 million Australians have diabetes, with type 2 diabetes (T2D) accounting for 85% of all diabetes. Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) indicates that diabetes was the underlying cause of 3% of all deaths and an underlying or associated cause of 10% of all deaths in 2011. The AusDiab study, the first longitudinal population-based study to examine the epidemiology of diabetes and its complications, found that over 12 years, people with known diabetes had an almost five-times higher mortality rate than those with normal glucose tolerance.