Diabetes in New Zealand--better information needed

To review the availability and quality of data on the epidemiology of diabetes in New Zealand.

A search was undertaken for all Medline-indexed publications on diabetes in New Zealand. Hospitalisation and mortality data (ICD9 code 250) from the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) were examined.

Information on diabetes in New Zealand has come from community surveys, national surveys, diabetes registers, hospitalisation data and mortality data. Much of this information has been valuable, but there is still inadequate national information on diabetes prevalence, incidence and time trends.

Information technology provides an opportunity to couple the surveillance of diabetes with improved diabetes care. Medical practitioners need to support the development of their own practice-based registers/recall systems and to contribute to the development of district-based diabetes registers where these have a central focus on improving diabetes care.