Adopted by the AASD Executive Board Meeting
on November 24, 2012
Promoting Research for Better Diabetes Care in Asia
The Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) holds its 4thScientific Meeting to be jointly held with the 9th International Diabetes Federation-Western Pacific Region (IDF-WPR) Congress in Kyoto, Japan,November 24-27, 2012 under the theme "Exploring the Diversity of Diabetes inthe WPR; Science-Navigated Care and Education."
The global epidemic of diabetes is a most serious medical and social problem in all parts of the world including East and Southeast Asia, which has an extremely high prevalence of diabetes and diverse ethnicities and cultures that manifest the disease in different forms. AASD embraces diabetes-related societies and associations in East and Southeast Asia to promote interaction among scientists and healthcare professionals in the field of diabetes. AASD emphasizes science-navigated diabetes care and education, and is focused on improving early detection and intervention and management of the disease and its complications in our area by providing timely science-based education for people with diabetes and their healthcare providers and increasing public awareness to encourage health improvement.
On the occasion of this joint meeting, AASD declares its mission to actively promote both clinical and basic high quality research on better prevention and care of diabetes throughout our vast region. We declare in Kyoto: Stop the Diabetes in Asia.
Background
The rapid increase in the number of diabetes patients is becoming a huge medical problem in Asia as well as worldwide. According to the Diabetes Atlas published by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in 2011, 366 million people globally are living with diabetes today, and the number is projected to rise to more than 565 million by 2030. East and Southeast Asia is the region with the highest number of people with diabetes, where some 100 million people now have the disease. This statistic is coupled with the perplexing fact that the number of patients with diabetes in Asia is progressing even more rapidly than in other parts of the world, and the prevalence of diabetes in younger ages is becoming ever more prominent.
Along with these distressing statistics, the heterogeneous pathophysiology of diabetes in the region underscores the need for leading edge clinical and basic research focused on the disease in Asia. It is now widely recognized that the phenotype of Asian diabetes (without obesity and having insulin secretory dysfunction) differs generally from that of diabetes common elsewhere (with obesity and insulin resistance). Thus, there is an urgent need for high-quality research focused on diabetes among Asians that inspired the foundation of the Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) in 2009. Today, 20 member associations are allied in AASD, whose official scientific journal, the Journal of Diabetes Investigation, is receiving world recognition for its quality contributions to the field.
Diabetes is largely preventable. Controllable risk factors include unhealthy diet and insufficient physical activity. A healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes, and its promotion is particularly effective when targeted to children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups. Careful analysis is required to identify groups at especially high risk and to clarify timely lifestyle intervention to prevent or ameliorate the disease. Most importantly, early detection and early intervention decrease the risk of the devastating complications of the disease. Population-based research into early detection and intervention can open windows of opportunity for timely action that can improve both individual outcomes and decrease the economic burden on healthcare systems and families. People with well-controlled diabetes have demonstrably better long-term futures. A holistic and patient-centered approach aimed at improving the entire diabetes pathway is required to keep diabetic patients healthy and to prevent or delay complications and co-morbidities. This requires coordinated science-navigated diabetes education and care.
The AASD promotes better prevention, early detection and better outcomes for diabetics in Asia by facilitating research activities in the region and disseminating science-based diabetes education and care.
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For inquiries:
The Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes
2-2-4, Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083 Japan
E-mail: office@aa-sd.org
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