Dr Anil Kapor chairman, World Diabetes Foundation
Distinguished delegates from Member States of the WHO South‑East Asia Region
Partners from academia, professional associations, civil society and the private sector
Dr Guy FONES, Director from WHO HQ and Colleagues from WHO
Friends,
Diabetes is one of the most significant and rapidly growing public health challenges facing our Region. An estimated 254 million adults in the WHO South-East Asia Region are living with diabetes, and nearly two thirds are not receiving glucose-lowering treatment.
The challenge before us is therefore not simply to identify more people with diabetes. It is to ensure that people are diagnosed early, receive appropriate treatment, remain in care and achieve good glycaemic control.
The Region has demonstrated strong political commitment to this agenda., the timebound SEAHEARTS milestones, the Colombo Call to Action for prevention and control of Diabetes and the goal of Global diabetes Compact have provided an important policy, and programmatic foundation for action.
Encouragingly, more than 41 million people with diabetes had been placed on protocol-based management in public health facilities by Dec 2025.
But we know that political commitment alone is not enough. We need implementation models that work in real health systems, in real communities and, importantly, in resource-constrained settings.
This is where this joint publication Prevention and control of diabetes mellitus Lessons for service delivery from countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region makes an important contribution.
The report brings together eight country case studies, covering Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. These experiences demonstrate that there is no single model for strengthening diabetes care. Instead, countries have adapted solutions to their own health systems and communities.
We see community leaders and community health workers helping to improve awareness, screening and follow-up.
We see diabetes services being integrated into primary health care, antenatal care and communicable disease programmes.
We see task-sharing and team-based care helping to overcome workforce constraints.
We see simplified treatment and patient-tracking tools supporting continuity of care.
Most importantly, these are not theoretical models. They are experiences developed, tested and implemented by countries in the Region. The publication captures what worked, the challenges encountered, and considerations for sustainability and scale-up.
I would therefore encourage all countries and partners to use this publication not simply as a collection of success stories, but as a practical learning resource. Ask: What can we adapt? What can we take to scale? What partnerships do we need? And what investments are required to move from promising projects to sustainable national programmes?
This is particularly important as we move towards the 2030 commitments under SEAHEARTS and the Global Diabetes Compact.
I would like to express my appreciation to the Ministries of Health, and all partners who contributed their experience and expertise to this publication.
I hope today’s discussion will go beyond sharing experiences. I hope it will inspire adaptation, replication and action across the Region.
Together, we can turn the lessons from these countries into stronger primary health care systems, better diabetes services and, ultimately, healthier lives for the people of the WHO South-East Asia Region.
Thank you, and I wish you a very productive session.