Huge numbers must change lifestyle to prevent epidemic of diabetes

The cost of preventing and treating diabetes and related chronic diseases may be high, but the cost of neglecting them will be vastly higher. That was the judgment of a two day meeting held last week in Oxford's Magdalen College. But more impressive than this predictable conclusion was the determination of participants to act on it. So too was their optimism.

Oxford Vision 2020 is a collaboration between the university, the World Health Organization, the Institute for Advanced Futures, a non-profit research and educational organisation, and the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Lars Rebien S⊘rensen, the president …