The Australian Diabetes Congress 2022 once again brought to light the effects of diabetes on the health system, but there were positives in the latest breakthroughs in research, education and clinical care.

The national Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) recorded 118,800 and over 119,000 new registrants between March 2020–2021 and March 2021–2022 – the highest recorded number of any 12-month period.

Healthcare innovation has made great strides in the past few decades.

From cancer treatments to stem cell breakthroughs, 3D printed organs and even face transplants (not the Nicholas Cage-John Travolta Face-Off kind), science is moving in leaps and bounds and setting trends that most of us thought were science fiction just a few short years ago.

As the Covid-19 pandemic dominated the headlines over the past year, the fact that the number of people living with - and dying from - diabetes has continued to rise has gone rather unnoticed.