Scottish politicians to discuss diabetes issues tomorrow

With Scottish Parliamentary elections coming up at the beginning of May, an event focusing diabetes is to be held in Edinburgh tomorrow. Hosted by comedian and BBC Radio Scotland presenter Fred MacAulay, representatives of the main political parties in Scotland will face questions about the challenge of diabetes in the country.
The free meeting, organised by the charity Diabetes UK Scotland, and held at the Macdonald Holyrood Hotel, Edinburgh, on Tuesday March 15 at 7pm, will offer the chance to discuss political strategies, policies and plans for tackling the disease.
The political parties will be represented by MSPs Shona Robison of the Scottish National Party, MSPs Ross Finnie, Liberal Democrats, Patrick Harvie, Scottish Green Party, Richard Simpso, Scottish Labour Party and Nanette Milne of the Scottish Conservatives, with Baroness Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, also taking part.
There are thought to be 240,000 people in Scotland that suffer from diabetes, about four per cent of the population, with 19,000 patients added to that total last year. The treatment of diabetes and associated complications, including heart disease, stroke and blindness, account for around ten per cent of spending in the NHS, with Scotland reported to have one of the worst rates of childhood diabetes in the world, with 1,700 young people under the age of 17 having type 1 diabetes .