Charity calls for incoming Government to make diabetes a priority

Tue, 30 Mar 2010
Leading UK diabetes charity Diabetes UK has called on the next UK government to make diabetes a major priority for the future. By leading diabetes policy from the top, diabetes services could be prioritised at a national and local level. The charity called for political parties and parliamentary candidates to make diabetes the focus, and to ensure that the NHS can cope with increasing demands from the growing diabetic population.

Diabetes UK ventured the following wishlist for the next government to focus on:

1. Defuse the diabetes time bomb and identify diabetes early

2. Ensure children with diabetes have a future

3. Make diabetes services world class with true accountability

4. Prevent life-threatening complications and support self-management

5. Improve emergency and inpatient care

6. Ensure equal access to insulin pumps and other innovations

7. Protect the health of pregnant women and their unborn babies

8. End discrimination at work

9. Improve care for older people

10. Prioritise diabetes research

Public affairs manager at Diabetes UK, Donna Castle, reportedly commented: " Diabetes is one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK today. If diagnosed late, left untreated, or poorly managed, it can lead to devastating complications such as heart disease, stroke and blindness . Diabetes costs the NHS 10 per cent of its annual resources - £9bn a year or £1m an hour. In the next 15 years these costs will escalate significantly as diabetes prevalence increases. That is why Diabetes UK is urging the next UK Government to make diabetes a key priority and to work with us to tackle this growing health epidemic."

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