13/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian Presidency is organising a conference on the prevention of type 2 diabetes which affects about 20 million people in Europe in Vienna on 15 and 16 February. The conclusions of the conference will be compiled into an expert paper comprising the main findings and recommendations to be brought to the attention of European Health Ministers at their informal meeting in April, ahead of adoption at the Health Council next June. Part of the conference, which will be opened by Austrian Health Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat and European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou will be devoted to consideration of how this illness affects women specifically. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes is an illness linked directly to life style. It is being diagnosed in increasingly young people and the number of women, including expectant mothers, who contract the illness is rising quickly. It is particularly prevalent among the poor and people who come from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent. (For more information: http://www.evotion.at/diabetes/htm )