Members of Parliament from more than 60 countries met in Vancouver over the weekend to discuss the human, social and economic cost of diabetes. The conference adopted a declaration calling for tougher action against the epidemic that affects some 440 million people around the world.
“If diabetes was a country, it would be the country with the third largest population in the world” one speaker told the conference. In Malta, diabetes afflicts some 10 per cent of the population whereas countless others are not yet aware that they are diabetic and still need to test themselves.
“We owe it to people with diabetes to give them the best treatment possible and to help prevent it in other cases”, PN leader Simon Busuttil told the conference.
The Vancouver Declaration commits signatories to prioritise the United National Gobal Health Targets for diabetes to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment in order to reduce the number of people with diabetese and the expensive and unnecessary complications and early deaths of those with the condition.
Also present for the conference were Clyde Puli (PN) and Godfrey Farrugia (PL). Dr Farrugia presented a country report on the state of play in Malta on diabetes.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120925/local/busuttil-wins-mep-of-the-year-award.438400