On the occasion of World Diabetes Day, Armenia’s Ministry of Health reports that the number of registered diabetes patients has grown by 108% from 1990 to 2012, and that the mortality rate from the disease has grown by 206%.

World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The World Diabetes Day campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness.

World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses.

According to the IDF, risk factors for Type 2 diabetes include: Family history of diabetes, being overweight, an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, increasing age, high blood pressure, ethnicity, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), a history of gestational diabetes, and poor nutrition during pregnancy.

The IDF says that 385 million people worldwide live with diabetes today and this number is projected to rise to 592 million by 2035.