Islamabad: Diabetes kills one person every eight seconds, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said, adding that the cost of treatment amounts to a staggering $465 billion.

Gilani said that World Diabetes Day 2011, observed on Monday globally, draws attention to the lethal nature of disease and underscores the need of preventive measures at individual and collective levels.

He said the International Diabetes Federation's facts and figures are startling.