section_path: Society and culture
section_name: Society and culture
paragraph_text: Society and culture
  
  The 1989 " St. Vincent Declaration " was the result of international efforts to improve the care accorded to those with diabetes. Doing so is important not only in terms of quality of life and life expectancy but also economically – expenses due to diabetes have been shown to be a major drain on health – and productivity-related resources for healthcare systems and governments.
  
  Several countries established more and less successful national diabetes programmes to improve treatment of the disease.