Diabetes is set to increase by 21% in Europe from 53.2 million in 2007 to 64.1 million in 2025 ¹. The dramatic increase in newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes, particularly in younger people, has developed into a major public health concern of the European Union (EU). However, several studies have demonstrated that prevention programmes can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes ^{2, 3, 4} . There is a clear consensus at EU level that action is needed now to develop targeted prevention management programmes for type 2 diabetes.

Although there are currently numerous prevention concepts within various European countries, EU-wide strategies are still lacking.

The overall objective of the IMAGE project is to improve the ability to prevent type 2 diabetes in Europe.

The IMAGE project will establish European intervention standards for type 2 diabetes primary prevention programmes and comprehensive healthcare professional education programmes. These will be achieved through

• the development of practice-oriented guidelines for diabetes prevention
• a European training programme for health care professionals to deliver preventive intervention
• European standards for quality control
• a European e-health training portal for prevention managers.

References:
¹ Diabetes Atlas third edition, International Diabetes Federation, 2006
² Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Reduction in the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes with Lifestyle Intervention or Metformin. NEJM 2002;346:393-403
³ Uusitupa M et al. for the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group. Long-term improvement in insulin sensitivity by changing lifestyles of people with impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes 2003;52:2532-8
⁴ Pan XR et al. Effects of diet and exercise in preventing NIDDM in people with impaired glucose tolerance: the Da Qing IGT and Diabetes Study. Diabetes Care 1997;20:537-44