The achievements of the Belgian Diabetes Registry (BDR) over a period of almost 20 years are described. This registry is a national and multicentric initiative that collects blood samples and information from diabetes patients and their relatives and treats the results in a confidential and protected way. Not only could the size of the health care problem 'diabetes' finally be quantified and monitored in Belgium for the age group 0-39 years, but in addition a platform was created for the early detection of individuals at high risk of the disease and its complications. This is a conditio sine qua non for the preparation of internationally competitive prevention studies and novel beta cell therapies, that could be effectively launched in Belgium with the help of BDR.
