World Diabetes Day: Discover EU4Health projects working on diabetes prevention

Diabetes is a chronic disease characterised by high blood sugar levels due to the body’s inability to produce enough insulin or use it effectively. With over 33 million people in the EU suffering from diabetes and an expected rise to 38 million in 2030, diabetes represents a growing threat to human health.

On World Diabetes Day, learn about EU4Health projects working on the prevention of type 2 diabetes across different population groups.

Vulnerable populations

Preventia is tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) through training, networking and awareness-raising activities. 

The project has established partnerships with schools, migration centres and healthcare institutions across Italy, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania and Belgium. 

Key achievements include the creation of tailored training materials for schools in disadvantaged areas, the launch of a medical twinning programme facilitating peer learning among medical centres and the organisation of culinary workshops with migrants. These initiatives have enhanced the participants’ understanding of the harmful effects of high consumption of free sugars, those added to foods and drinks during processing or preparation.

A further milestone is the development of BiteWatch, a mobile app designed to help consumers make more informed food choices by displaying clear information on sugar, salt, saturated fats, additives and food processing levels. The app will be available in five languages as of 20 November 2025.

PREACT aims to enhance the prevention and early detection of CVDs and type 2 diabetes among different communities, including vulnerable groups, by promoting healthy and preventive habits and providing tools for self-monitoring of one’s health status.

The PREACT pilot phase has proved the importance of targeted, culturally sensitive and inclusive health education in combating chronic diseases, paving the way for broader implementation across Europe.

PIA focuses on the primary prevention of NCDs such as diabetes and CVDs. By raising awareness, promoting health literacy and providing screenings, the project seeks to improve health outcomes in the general population while reducing inequalities among vulnerable groups, including displaced people from Ukraine. 

A mobile application for the Sudden Death Prevention Programme, available to download at the end of November 2025, will help to increase health awareness and improve prevention and education among its target audience. In terms of prevention and self-care, the app allows users to enter and monitor their heart rhythms, track their health data and adopt preventive measures to improve their health.

Since the launch of the project in 2024, PIA has involved 103 stakeholder organisations across five countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary) and conducted more than 500 screenings. 

Children

PODiaCar aims to improve the fight against paediatric obesity and prevent the risk of CVDs and type 2 diabetes. The project is developing a predictive model and screening tool to detect risks in children with obesity, as well as a digital twin (a cutting-edge technology that can replicate data from the physical world in the digital space) for a sound management of paediatric obesity and related complications.

The DUSE project is creating an educational programme for children and teenagers in schools to raise their level of awareness and knowledge about diabetes prevention, promoting good nutrition practices and increasing the level of daily and weekly exercise. DUSE is also working with Ukrainian refugee kids in Europe and Ukraine. 

General population

PROVIDE aims to develop a system for the rapid screening of early risk of CVDs, to improve the quality of clinical monitoring in patients with diabetes, allowing early personalised prevention. 

The Joint Action JACARDI is supporting EU countries in reducing the burden of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at both individual and health system levels. By coordinating evidence-based interventions and knowledge-sharing, the initiative intervenes across all the stages of the patient's journey: from the prevention phase through health literacy to the screening of high-risk populations and the implementation of integrated care pathways.

The Joint Action JACARDI and the PIA project are fostering synergies by identifying several areas of collaboration, in a joint effort to reduce the impact of NCDs (including diabetes) across Europe through education, prevention activities and targeted interventions.

HaDEA also recently interviewed the European coordinator of JACARDI Benedetta Armocida and its scientific coordinator Graziano Onder. Watch the video to gain further insights into JACARDI’s actions to reduce the burden of diabetes.

The Joint Action CARE4DIABETES aims to reduce the burden of type 2 diabetes and related risk factors by implementing effective lifestyle treatment programmes. These will increase patients’ health and quality of life, reduce healthcare associated costs and promote more innovative and integrated interventions based on patients' lifestyle changes.

A total of 12 EU countries have implemented and are currently assessing the results of a best practice developed by CARE4DIABTES. The best practice consists of the promotion of healthy habits based on four pillars: nutrition, physical activity, relaxation and sleep.

Background

EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU health programmes. The EU4Health programme goes beyond an ambitious response to the COVID-19 crisis to address the resilience of European healthcare systems. The programme provides funding to national authorities, health organisations and other bodies through grants and public procurement, contributing to a healthier Europe. HaDEA manages the vast majority of the total EU4Health budget and implements the programme by managing calls for proposals and calls for tenders from 2021 to 2027.