On the centenary of the discovery of insulin, 10 years after the adoption of the first European Parliament Motion for Resolution, the diabetes community strongly welcomes the European Parliament’s recognition of the continuing urgency to act on diabetes through the inclusion of a Motion for Resolution on the November II plenary session agenda in Strasbourg.
100 years ago, diabetes was a death sentence. And although the discovery of insulin has since saved millions of lives around the world, healthcare systems today are still failing people living with diabetes (PwD) who continue to develop life-altering complications, including cardiovascular diseases, renal diseases, amputations and blindness, a situation further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the most part, European healthcare systems are not optimally set up to prevent and manage complex, chronic diseases such as diabetes, despite the fact that many existing tools, interventions and solutions could be used to this effect. And as demonstrated by COVID-19, many of them also lack resilience.
For these reasons, it is clear that strong and decisive action on diabetes is urgently needed. Because of its complexity, unique characteristics and interplay with all levels of care, diabetes is a clear marker of the performance and future resilience of national healthcare systems. Effective diabetes prevention, care and management can save lives and will benefit not just people living with diabetes but also other people living with non-communicable diseases and many other healthcare users. We strongly believe that a new Diabetes Resolution is an opportunity to bring about healthier and more equitable societies for people living with diabetes as well as all EU citizens living with NCDs and other conditions.
We want to thank all the MEPs, our diabetes champions, who have listened to the needs of the diabetes community, showed empathy to people living with diabetes, recognised their struggle in managing a lifelong 24/7 condition and gave us their political support for a new Diabetes Resolution: MEP Sara Cerdas, MEP Romana Jerković, MEP Kateřina Konečná, MEP Marisa Matias, MEP Tilly Metz, MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP Frédérique Ries, MEP Christel Schaldemose, MEP Tomislav Sokol, and MEP István Ujhelyi.
IDF Europe and all of diabetes community invite other MEPs to follow the lead of our champions and help people living with diabetes in Europe to lead long, healthy and fulfilling lives.
To read more about the rationale for a new Diabetes Resolution, click here.
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We thank our partners, Air Liquide, Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly Diabetes for their support to IDF Europe World Diabetes Day events and to our call for a new European Parliament Diabetes Resolution.
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