Kofi Annan – Former Secretary General speaks at European Diabetes Leadership Forum

Kofi Annan made a compelling case for the importance of a Europe-wide approach to tackling diabetes in his keynote speech at the European Diabetes Leadership Forum, hosted by the OECD and the Danish Diabetes Association. It took place in Copenhagen during the Danish Presidency of the European Union. 55 million people in the EU have diabetes, costing 84.7 billion Euros and causing 600,000 deaths in the region each year. Denmark has made tackling chronic disease, with diabetes used as a model illness, one of the health priorities of its Presidency.
The former UN Secretary-General took the stage to deliver the closing speech of the conference and highlighted that diabetes now proves a graver health challenge to Europe and the rest of the world than even HIV/AIDs, which he won the Nobel Peace Prize for tackling.
The forum was also attended by diabetes decision-makers, healthcare professionals, health ministers, and MPs who came from across Europe to come up with a ‘Copenhagen Roadmap’ which will offer practical solutions to foster improvements within prevention, early detection and better management and control of diabetes in Europe.