"It became pretty clear that that might be an underestimate when the Chinese released figured about a year ago saying they have nearly 100 million people with diabetes," said Zimmet, who is also a director of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne. "The figures only strengthen the concern about the impact of diabetes from a public health and economic point of view."

The International Diabetes Federation, an umbrella group of more than 200 national associations, estimates 4.6 million people die annually because of diabetes. Four of every five people with the disease live in developing countries, with most affected men and women being of working age, it said last year.

"Diabetes is a massive challenge the world can no longer afford to ignore," Jean Claude Mbanya, the federation's president, said in a statement yesterday. "The clock is ticking for the world's leaders. We expect action from their meeting next week at the UN that will halt diabetes' relentless upwards trajectory."

The UN meeting on Sept. 19 and 20 aims to encourage a "whole of government and whole of society" response to non- communicable diseases, including a reduction in risk factors such as smoking and unhealthy diets.

Eoin Treacy's view Novo Nordisk, as with so many other shares, lost momentum from March and broke below its 200-day MA in early August. It continues to range below DKK600 but needs to sustain a move above that level to indicate a return to medium-term demand dominance.