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To tackle diabetes, science and health systems must take into account social context

An increasing amount of publications are recognizing that a person’s risk of diabetes and diabetes outcomes are influenced largely by social determinants of health. This renewed understanding of disease should influence health provision and diabetes research, but will it?

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Correspondence to Jacqueline A. Seiglie or J. Jaime Miranda.

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Seiglie, J.A., Nambiar, D., Beran, D. et al. To tackle diabetes, science and health systems must take into account social context. Nat Med 27, 193–195 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01231-x

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