Established in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation with support from WHO in response to growing concerns about the health and economic threat posed by diabetes, World Diabetes Day (WDD) became an official UN day in 2006.WDD is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public and political spotlight.

The theme for World Diabetes Day 2021-23 is Access to Diabetes Care.

• Millions of people with diabetes around the world do not have access to diabetes care.
• People with diabetes require ongoing care and support to manage their condition and avoid complications.

We cannot wait any longer for:

• Medicine, technologies, support and care to be made available to all people with diabetes that require them.
• Governments to increase investment in diabetes care and prevention.

This year marks 100 years since the discovery of a treatment that has saved millions of lives around the world – insulin.

For World Diabetes Day 2021, we're celebrating this incredible breakthrough and the century of life-changing diabetes discoveries it inspired.

The centenary of the discovery of insulin presents a unique opportunity to bring about meaningful change for the more than 460 million people living with diabetes and the millions more at risk.