Since its inception in 1950, IDF grew from 16 member associations in 15 countries to 183 member associations in 142 countries in 2003.
The increase has been very steady in the last 25 years, as shown in the figure below. This trend reflects the increasing number of people with diabetes as well as the need for people with diabetes, and their families, to play an active role in their care and management of the disease.
Type of membership
Diabetes associations with mixed membership, ie both people with diabetes and healthcare providers, represented 43% of the respondents of the survey carried out by IDF in 2002. Some 33% of the respondents were associations representing only people with diabetes and their families while 15% were organizations for healthcare professionals only. Diabetes associations which also ran healthcare centres made up 7% of the organizations which responded to the survey (see figure).
