Adequate quality of diabetes care and the best concept for the implementation of national diabetes plans remains controversial. In September 2011, the United Nations Summit for Non-Communicable Diseases agreed that national plans for prevention and control of diabetes must be developed, implemented, and monitored. The Global Diabetes Survey (GDS) is a standardised, annual, global questionnaire that will be used to assess responses of representatives from 19 diabetes-related stakeholder groups. It was designed with the goal of generating an annual report on the quality of national diabetes care and to compare findings from different regions and countries. The findings will be freely available and will be used to inform politicians and stakeholders, with the goal of improving the quality of diabetes care. We encourage the public to participate. If you are interested, please go to http://www.globaldiabetessurvey.com.