Renew Europe calls for more prevention and care to tackle diabetes in the EU

The Renew Group in the European Parliament welcomes today’s broad majority backing a resolution on the prevention, management and better care of diabetes.

One hundred years after the breakthrough discovery of the lifesaving drug insulin for diabetes, there are more than 33 million patients in Europe living with diabetes today. This figure is only expected to increase to 38 million in the coming years, which means that diabetes has become one of the most prevalent non – communicable diseases in the EU and has been estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death in the EU. It is therefore of paramount importance to reverse this worrying curve.

Initiated by Renew Europe, the adopted text provides strong demands to the Commission and the Member States to set ambitious targets and policies for reversing the rising trend in numbers of Europeans with diabetes. Establishing optimized national diabetes plans and strategies for risk reduction as well as tools to reduce inequalities in access to care, blood sugar control, supplies, and better data collection are needed to ensure that all of them is given access to the best and most innovative treatments. This will not only prevent more people for getting diabetes, it will also improve their quality of life of people and reduce the risks of diabetes - related complicated health problems.

MEP Frédérique Ries (MR, Belgium), Renew Europe’s shadow rapporteur on this resolution says:

“People with diabetes have been expecting this resolution for ten years and it was crucial for me to bring it to them in 2022, marking the centenary of insulin. The Parliament is sounding the alarm: the diabetes community deserves more support from the EU and investment along the whole care pathway.”