Maintain pressure on reforms to protect NHSCampaign highlights diabetes health risk
The ‘Beware the Silent Assassin’ campaign follows the findings of a report, which found that one in ten people in hospital wards have diabetes and 10% of the NHS budget, £9 billion a year, is allocated to Diabetes and its associated complications.
With the advertising campaign commencing this month, Diabetes UK are aiming to raise awareness and encourage people at risk of type 2 diabetes to lead a healthier lifestyle.
The charity will also work to ensure that all diabetes sufferers have access to the care, support and education required to treat and manage their condition.
Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, warned that diabetes could be responsible for more deaths than breast and prostate cancer as it leads to diseases such as stroke, kidney failure and heart disease.
‘It really is a silent assassin, more than 500,000 people have the condition but do not know it and by the time they are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 50% of people are found to have started developing complications,’ he said.
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Readers' comments (2)
Evelyn Guzman | 2-Oct-2008 4:13 pm
You put it so aptly that diabetes is a silent Assassin. It is a good thing you have Diabetes UK and we have ADA both of which do a tremendous job of making people understand the risk of not changing one's lifestyle. I am glad the new UK campaign I think will target those who are not aware they have diabetes until they get some signs of developing complications.
Evelyn Guzman
http://www.free-symptoms-of-diabetes-alert.com (If you want to visit, just click but if it doesn’t work, copy and paste it onto your browser.)
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Deborah O'Byrne | 12-Oct-2008 3:00 pm
Highlighting diabetes awareness is vital iin any form,this is a condition that has serious impacts on the patient and their families. As a 3rd student with a particular interest in diabetes I am heartened by the sincerity of all the health professionals in fighting this epidemic, I am disheartened still at the environments many NHS staff have to work under. Diabetes is welcoming a health plan because lifestyle choices have been altered and new ones have to be addressed and ameliorated, lets attempt to demonstrate good lifestyle achievement by living it and offering it, to all NHS staff and patients and visitors. NHS facilites for health promotion are poor to say the least and how are we able to offer and advise health education when the hospital environments (i.e. condition of rest areas, available foods and recreational facilities for health professionals) ignore it.. Diabetes awareness and education must be addressed or our soul purpose of making a difference will be futile, well done Diabetes UK, a master of its aim and a campaign I wholeheartedly support.
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