Tight glycaemic control is essential, and good adherence is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and hospitalisation in people with T2D. A significant number of people with T2D do not take medication as prescribed and therefore have poor outcomes. The key factors for not achieving targets include therapeutic inertia and adherence. Reasons for poor adherence include perception of treatment, complexity of treatment and adverse effects. Poor adherence leads to inadequate glycaemic control, which increases the risk of diabetic complications and mortality. There is evidence to suggest that education and monitoring is important in medication adherence.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2 or COVID‐19) has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and sent all countries scrambling to review emergency healthcare provisions. There is global evidence of each nation struggling to effectively manage the number of people being diagnosed with the virus. These are testing times which have not been experienced in recent generations and there are a number of insecurities regarding the management of people with COVID‐19 and cardiometabolic diseases. This review highlights the current concerns related to COVID‐19 and provides advice in terms of the therapeutic uncertainty and potential adverse harms associated with therapy when managing people, particularly those with cardiometabolic diseases, who have contracted or are at increased risk of contracting COVID‐19.

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