Diabetes in New Zealand - better information needed

Aims. To review the availability and quality of data on the epidemiology of diabetes in New Zealand. Methods. A search was undertaken for all Medline-indexed publications on di abetes in New Zealand. Hospitalisation and mortality data (ICD9 code 250) f rom the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) were examined. Results. Information on diabetes in New Zealand has come from community sur veys, national surveys, diabetes registers, hospitalisation data and mortal ity data. Much of this information has been valuable, but there is still in adequate national information on diabetes prevalence, incidence and time tr ends. Conclusion, Information technology provides an opportunity to couple the su rveillance of diabetes with improved diabetes care. Medical practitioners n eed to support the development of their own practice-based registers/recall systems and to contribute to the development of district-based diabetes re gisters where these have a central focus on improving diabetes care.