WHEN WE HEAR THE WORD “EPIDEMIC, ” WE TYPICALLY THINK OF A

widespread outbreak of an infectious disease. The word, however, can be correctly used to describe any disease or medical condition attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously — which is certainly the case with diabetes. The statistics are chilling1: • Worldwide, it is estimated that 246 million people are currently affected by diabetes, with 7 million more developing the condition each year. • It’s expected that 1 of every 3 children born in North America in 2000 will be diagnosed with diabetes in his or her lifetime. • Approximately 90 % of people with diabetes have type 2 which, due to our aging population and poor lifestyle habits, contin-ues to increase in incidence. • The direct costs of diabetes to the Canadian health care system are expected to exceed $15 billion per year by 2010. To describe diabetes as a plague on modern society is no exag-geration. However, there is hope that early screening, prevention programs and good management can reduce the huge burden of this disease. This special peer-reviewed supplement has been published to bring you the latest in diabetes management and prevention. We hope that you will find this pharmacist-specific adaptation of th