Community-based approaches to diabetes
![](https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/repository/picture/2017-8/20_02_17_small_18700.jpg)
date: 20/02/2017
Project: A people-centred approach through Self-M...
acronym: SMART2D
See also: Project details
In line with a call for action by the World Health Organization, the EU is targeting diabetes as a global health emergency. Each year around 1.5 million people worldwide die from the disease, 627 000 of them in Europe.
An estimated 60 million people in the EU have diabetes – 9 out of 10 have ‘Type 2’, a preventable form of the disease. Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Most cases can be attributed to excess body weight, a lack of physical activity and the effects of ageing.