News Date: Tuesday 25th October 2005
Tim meets Sir Steve Redgrave in a bid to raise awareness about Diabetes epidemic
On Thursday 13th October, East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton met five times Olympic gold medalist Sir Steve Redgrave to raise awareness of diabetes and the importance of early detection of the condition.
The presentation at the House of Commons was organised by community pharmacy chain, Lloydspharmacy who have been offering free diabetes testing for over two years. Lloydspharmacy have tested three quarters of a million people for Diabetes in the UK and more than 37,500 of those have needed a referral to their GP because they were perceived to be at significant risk of developing the condition.
Tim commented:
"The impact of diabetes on our health as a nation is quite astonishing. It is estimated that around 2 million people are diagnosed as having diabetes but there are a further 1 million unaware that they are living with the condition. This can greatly impact on their quality of life and life expectancy as well as putting increased pressure on our local health services.
"If constituents take advantage of free screening tests available within the local community, there will be less people suffering from Diabetes without even knowing they are in need of treatment."
ENDS
Note to Editor:
1) Lloydspharmacy is the largest community pharmacy chain in the UK, with 1,524 pharmacies located nationwide. It is part of the Admenta UK plc group, which is owned by Celesio AG. For further information or to speak to a local spokesperson for Lloydspharmacy please contact:Lisa Chick/ Ann Bryant, Starfish Communications LLP, Tel: 020 7323 2121, chick@star-fish.net / mayne@star-fish.net or visitwww.lloydspharmacy.com
Tim Loughton MP , 2005
