RESUMO
The tools available to the physician involved in the management of type 2 diabetes expanded dramatically in the 1990s and the prospects for continued expansion of the theraputic repertoire are good. The newer agents target different features of the syndrome of type 2 diabetes, and offer the prospect of being able to tailor drug therapy according to the needs of individual patients who might differ in the balance of aetiological risk factors for type 2 diabetes. The cost of the newer agents and the lack of comparative clinical studies with hard end-points currently limit their use, and a new generation of comparative clinical studies is required before we can face up to this challenge. The fact that Asia and Africa are the regions with the greatest potential increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes makes further cost reductions in the provision of these drugs a priority (AU)
