A diabetic waterpolo player spoke about the misconceptions people have about the condition during a conference organised by the Malta Diabetes Association to mark World Diabetes Day this morning.

The player, John Soler, said he discovered he was diabetic when he was 22 and already very active.

When news of his disease came out, many had called him as though he was about to die.

Mr Soler said some people never told anyone they suffered from diabetes because they felt ashamed.

“I feel very proud that I have an active life, play sports and work with my condition. I wasn’t going to let it stop me and you should never give up,” he said.

Around 10 per cent of Maltese knew they suffered from diabetes but many more probably had the disease without knowing, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar said.

In the world, there were more than 147 million sufferers and this figure was estimated to increase to around 380 million in the next few years, Dr Cassar said.

Around seven million people were diagnosed with diabetes every year, he said.

Diabetes occurs because the body cannot absorb glucose properly, either because of a lack of insulin or because the insulin available does not work effectively. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes where the body is unable to produce any insulin and Type 2 where not enough insulin is produced or the insulin that is made by the body doesn't work properly.

On Friday, the Maltese health authorities appealed for people to go for a blood test at the health clinics in an attempt to get a snapshot of the population’s sugar levels.