Education call as type 2 numbers soar

A leading diabetes researcher has called on health bosses to prioritise education to avoid costly complications as type 2 diabetes cases continue to rise.

The number of people living with diabetes in the UK has soared by almost 60 per cent in a decade, according to new figures released today by Diabetes UK.

There are now 3,333,069 people diagnosed with diabetes, which is an increase of more than 1.2 million adults compared with ten years ago. More than 90 per cent of these will have type 2 diabetes.

Professor Melanie Davies is an internationally renowned expert in type 2 diabetes and Co-Director of the Leicester Diabetes Centre.

She said: “With diabetes prevalence continuing to rise, the NHS faces a major challenge. Self-management education programmes that meet the national quality standards are a proven way of supporting people to self-care in diabetes. We believe this kind of diabetes education is key to preventing this looming NHS crisis and the misery of the complications of the condition.”

The Leicester Diabetes Centre is an international centre of excellence in diabetes research, education and innovation. Hosted at Leicester General Hospital, it is a partnership between the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the University of Leicester.