While this paper is focused predominately on addressing diabetes mellitus (DM) as part of the strategy for ending TB, its content must also be viewed within the wider context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which explicitly aim for the first time to reduce morbidity and mortality from both communicable and non-communicable diseases. The SDGs will now drive the international development agenda for the next 15 years. The SDGs, which were first formally discussed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2012 (Rio+20), have replaced the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when these expired at the end of 2015. The MDGs had three health-related goals: MDG 4 (to reduce child mortality), MDG 5 (to improve maternal health) and MDG 6 (to combat AIDS, malaria and other diseases, including TB). The SDGs in contrast have 17 goals and 169 targets, but there is just one overarching health goal (SDG 3: ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) that has 13 health-related targets
