Diabetes

Gregory Campbell Excerpts

Wednesday 9th January 2013 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

First, I thank the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr Sanders) for bringing this issue to the House. Secondly, I declare an interest, as I am a type 2 diabetic and have been for four years. It has given me a knowledge of, and an interest in, the issue, although not a total knowledge—far from it. It has also made me more aware when constituents come to me with issues relating to diabetes and has given me an interest in those issues.

The disease has completely changed my life, as it would, because it is type 2. Diabetes is a major issue in every constituency. As someone who enjoyed the sweet trolley more than anyone else—to use Northern Ireland terminology, when there was a bun-worry going on, I was at the front of the queue—the sweet stuff was something that I indulged in regularly. Along with my stress levels, that has meant that I am a diabetic today.

The statistics have been mentioned, but they bear repeating, due to the seriousness of the UK’s problem, which is etched in everyone’s minds. The UK has the fifth highest rate in the world of children with type 1 diabetes. In Northern Ireland, we have 1,040 children with type 1 diabetes, some of whom are born with the condition. I want to give a Northern Ireland perspective, but I will bring in the UK strategy, because diabetes affects the whole UK, and that is why it is important. Some 24.5 children in every 100,000 aged 14 and under are diagnosed with the condition every year in the UK. We had a reception where we met some of those young people, and if we needed a focus, the focus was there that day for those of us who attended. I think that most of the people in the Chamber were there.

The UK’s rate is about twice as high as that in Spain, where it is 13 children in every 100,000, and in France, where it is 12.2 children in every 100,000. The league table covers only the 88 countries where the incidence of type 1 diabetes is recorded. There are 1,040 children under the age of 17 with type 1 diabetes in Northern Ireland, and almost one in four of them experienced diabetic ketoacidosis before a diagnosis was made.

Diabetic ketoacidosis can develop quickly. It occurs when a severe lack of insulin upsets the body’s normal chemical balance and causes it to produce poisonous chemicals known as ketones. If undetected, the ketones can result in serious illness, coma and even death. The diabetes itself is not the killer; it is the offshoots from it, the effects on the heart, circulation, blood pressure and sight, and the possibility of strokes and amputations.

The number of people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes has increased by 33% in Northern Ireland. In my Strangford constituency, the number has gone up by 30%, with 800 people—I am one of them, by the way—becoming diabetic in the past seven years. That compares to 25% in England, 20% in Wales and 18% in Scotland. In our small part of the United Kingdom, the total number of adults—aged 17 and over and registered with GPs—with diabetes is 75,837, and a further 1,040 young people under the age of 17 have type 1. There has been a significant rise in that number also, with the prevalence in Northern Ireland now at more than 4%. An estimated 10,000 people in Northern Ireland have diabetes and do not know that they do. They have a ticking time bomb in their bodies; they wonder why they are not well, and the cause is diabetes.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

My hon. Friend is talking about the different prevalence of diabetes throughout the UK. Does he agree that best practice regarding early detection and the promotion of an active lifestyle could be a target for all the devolved regions across the UK and here in England? The Minister would do well to respond in relation to Ministers in the devolved regions taking on such best practice to combat diabetes.

[Jim Shannon]

Yes, I agree. When people make interventions, I always wonder whether they have read my script—preventive medication is the very next issue on it.

In my doctors surgery in Kircubbin and, indeed, across Northern Ireland preventive measures are in place. There are diabetic surgeries, and the matter is taken seriously. The UK strategy that we have had for the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and that will come to a conclusion this calendar year has made significant progress towards reducing the potential numbers, but diabetes has increased over the same period. There are some 100 diabetics in my doctors surgery in Kircubbin.