Debate on diabetes

Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay Adrian Sanders led a debate on government policy on the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

MPs debated the topic on 9 January 2013.

According to the charity Diabetes UK, there are currently 3.7 million people in Britain with diabetes, including an estimated 850,000 people who have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it.

The Health and Social Care Act, passed in 2011, underlined the government's focus on "user involvement" for diabetes sufferers and those at risk of diabetes.

User involvement places an emphasis on patients taking an active role in managing their condition and making decisions about their care.

On 2 January Diabetes UK and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) released figures showing the UK ranks the fifth highest in the world for the rate of children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.