Last week, I hosted a Diabetes Testing Event at the European Parliament in order to raise awareness on diabetes before the World Diabetes Day on November 14. The event was organised in conjunction with the International Diabetes Federation (Europe) whose president, Chris Delicata, coincidentally hails from Malta.
Testing devices were set up in the European Parliament, allowing members of Parliament and several other visitors at the European Parliament to test themselves for diabetes.
The president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, was among those who took the diabetes test on my invitation and this helped us a great deal to attract the media's attention all over Europe and, therefore, raise awareness.
Mr Buzek's test result was fine, which is good for him.
But that is not the case for more than 31 million EU citizens who are affected by diabetes. This number is expected to rise by 20 per cent by 2025 and this makes diabetes one of the costliest health problems in the world. According to the WHO, direct healthcare costs of diabetes range from 2.5 per cent to 15 per cent of the annual healthcare budget (depending on local diabetes prevalence and treatment and care available). Those who know little about diabetes should read on if only because, in Malta, the incidence of diabetes is considered to be very high.
The IDF Diabetes Atlas 2006 estimates that the diabetes prevalence rate in Malta is 9.7 per cent of the adult population, representing about 28,600 people. The Atlas forecasts a rise in prevalence to 11.6 per cent by 2025. The figures are alarming and make the need to address this problem compelling.
Diabetes is a serious progressive chronic condition that occurs as a result of problems in the production and supply of insulin in the body. This leads to a rise of the sugar level in the blood.
There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes develops when the body is unable to produce any insulin; normally this develops before the age of 30 and most often in childhood or adolescence. It is usually treated by insulin injections.
Type 2 diabetes develops when the body can still produce some insulin but not enough, or when there is a resistance to the insulin produced. This type of diabetes can be controlled by changes in lifestyle, a healthier diet and increased physical exercise. It constitutes about 85 per cent to 95 per cent of all diabetes in all developed countries.
There is, therefore, no doubt that diabetes is an issue and we need to address it more effectively. My task is to help to do so at European level after Mr Delicata asked me to help him raise awareness in the European Parliament.
As a result I now co-chair the EU Diabetes Working Group in the European Parliament. This working group brings like-minded MEPs to cooperate on diabetes in order to urge EU institutions to do more. The group was re-launched last week to coincide with the World Diabetes Day and I am co-chairing it with MEP Sarah Ludford from the UK and MEP Marisa Matias from Portugal.
The working group was originally set up in 2002 by former MEP John Bowis (UK) and it has already managed to put diabetes on the EU agenda by pushing through a parliamentary declaration calling on EU institutions to prioritise diabetes in the EU's new health strategy as a major disease. Parliament also wants to encourage EU countries to establish national diabetes plans. Furthermore, we want to press the EU to develop a strategy to encourage consumption and production of healthy food.
Everyone must chip in to improve the lives of people living with diabetes. The stakeholders do not only include local and European representatives but also patients, pharmaceutical companies and researchers.
At the European Parliament we are supporting policies that promote awareness, better prevention, diagnosis and management of the disease.
We also want to secure increased funding and better coordination in all fields of diabetes research in Europe.
For instance, the EU research programme FP7 awarded a grant to support a two-year project - DIAMAP - that will map out diabetes research in Europe.
Another EU-funded project, known as SWEET, seeks to enhance health and quality of life of children and young people affected by type 1 and type 2 diabetes in Europe.
We support these initiatives and we want more.
We also want EU food labelling legislation to require more detailed information on food labelling in order to help people deal more effectively with diabetes. A review of EU food labelling legislation is under way.
Our attention now turns to the European Commission and the selection of the new commissioners responsible for health and for research, whose hearing will take place in the coming weeks.
We shall seek assurances from the new commissioners on their commitment to helping us deal more effectively with diabetes.
Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.
www.simonbusuttil.eu