Abstract
Background: Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough
insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it
produces. Diabetes is an important public health problem, one of four priorities non communicable diseases
(NCDs) targeted for action by world leaders. Both the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been
steadily increasing over the past few decades. Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem and is emerging
as a pandemic. The number of diabetic patients in the world is estimated to reach more than 25 cores in 2010. India
leads the world today with the largest number of diabetics followed by China and USA. It is the second most
common chronic disease in children and accounts for 5-10% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus. India has an
incidence of 10.6 cases/year/1, 00,000. Every fifth adult in Indian urban area is a diabetic