Established at the Parliamentary Champions for Diabetes Forum in Melbourne in December 2013, the PDGN has now grown to 133 members across 41 countries.

The second Parliamentary Champions for Diabetes Forum will be held on the two days prior to the 23rd IDF World Diabetes Congress in Vancouver in 30 November – 4 December 2015.

This edition of the IDF-PDGN Newsletter carries a Review Article written by the President Adrian Sanders MP, and first published on 2 November 2014 in Volume 22 of the African Journal of Diabetes Medicine.

The article articulates the value of a global parliamentary network, designed to share ideas and advocate for people with diabetes in legislatures around the world.

In the past, few real gains have been made in major global health campaigns without the combination of sound government policy working side-by-side with the research, health and medical professions. Malaria, polio, HIV/Aids and anti-smoking campaigns, to name a few, have succeeded where governments made these health challenges central to policy making and worked co-operatively with the health and medical sector.

So that you can get to know the people behind IDF-PDGN, the biographies of the Executive team are featured in this 5th Newsletter.

The Hon Judi Moylan
Global Coordinator,
IDF-PDGN

Sir Michael is the President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2013-2015, and was the inaugural Chair of the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Global Forum.

He became interested in diabetes thirty years ago when his youngest child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a very young age. Then a Member of the British Parliament, Sir Michael championed the cause of diabetes in Parliament, as a result of which he was co-opted to the Board of Trustees of the British Diabetic Association, now Diabetes UK.

There he served as a trustee in a variety of capacities for 17 years, most recently as the first non-medical Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 2001-2006. As Chairman, he oversaw major changes in the operations and governance of Diabetes UK, Europe's largest organisation for people with diabetes.
 

Sir Michael Hirst is a graduate in law of the University of Glasgow, and was an exchange student at the University of Iceland. He later qualified as a chartered accountant and became a partner in KPMG, the international accounting firm, until he entered the British Parliament. Sir Michael held a number of senior positions in frontline politics until 1997 and was knighted for political and public service in 1992. He has also served on the board of a number of leading charities and public bodies.

Sir Michael says, “ My knowledge of government decision-making from 15 years at the sharp end of politics is helpful in knowing how best we can influence health policy to improve the lives of those with diabetes. I have learned a lot about how effective organisations should work. But such experience counts for little unless you also have a real passion to improve the lives of those with diabetes, and modestly, I would say that I do.

 

 

 

"Having recently established the Tasmanian Parliamentary Diabetes Support Group I'm honored to promote the diabetes cause to help find a cure for Tasmanians with type 1 diabetes and help all people with diabetes and their families.”

 

 

 

Guy Barnett graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1984 with a Bachelor of Laws degree, and later in 1995 with a Master of Laws (Environmental Law).

Guy was elected as a Senator representing Tasmania in the Australian Government from 2002 – 2011.  During Guy’s time in the Federal Parliament he was a strong advocate for diabetes and was on the Executive of the Parliamentary Diabetes Support Group.   As a type 1 diabetic his input was invaluable to this group.

On leaving Federal Parliament, Guy was appointed inaugural ambassador for Diabetes Australia and Diabetes Tasmania.

Guy Barnett is the Liberal Member for Lyons in the State of Tasmania. 

“As a Senator for Tasmania, I established the Tassie Pollie Pedal with Diabetes Tasmania ten years ago. I have cycled the three day adventure every year since and am keen to nail our ten year anniversary event. In those ten years, more than $430 000 has been raised for diabetes support, education and community awareness activities across Tasmania—a great contribution and one I want to see continue! Having recently established the Tasmanian Parliamentary Diabetes Support Group I'm honored to promote the diabetes cause to help find a cure for Tasmanians with type one diabetes and help all people with diabetes and their families.”

“The aim was to bring those parliamentarians together to work together to commit themselves to be advocates in the fight against diabetes and to recognise the global challenge.

Those who attended committed themselves to raising the profile and working for the benefit of people with diabetes wherever they live in the world.”

Adrian Sanders is the Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay. He is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Diabetes.  This group raises in Parliament the profile of diabetes and its prevention; to monitor new initiatives; and to work to ensure a better deal for people with diabetes.     
Adrian has had type 1 diabetes for nearly 25 years.

Adrian was elected President at the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Forum, held in Melbourne in November 2013.  He says, “That the Melbourne Declaration on Diabetes was about. Parliamentarians from different countries who came together to talk about what was happening in their countries and what the problems were, and to discuss how we could co-operate better.  We recognised that many bodies work transnationally: patient bodies, medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies all meet regularly on a transnational basis. One group that does not is parliamentarians, yet it is the parliamentarians who can initiate debates, vote on budgets, raise awareness and put pressure on Governments in a way that other bodies cannot. In a sense, the parliamentarians are the missing link.” "The aim was to bring those parliamentarians together to work together to commit themselves to be advocates in the fight against diabetes and to recognise the global challenge. Those who attended committed themselves to raising the profile and working for the benefit of people with diabetes wherever they live in the world.”

Adrian has also been instrumental in developing the ExPAND Policy Toolkit for Diabetes which is a resource to turn words into action.

In November 2014 Adrian published the article “The Melbourne Declaration on Diabetes” in the African Journal of Diabetes Medicine.

You can read more about Adrian’s diabetes advocacy activities here.

 

“This prize means that diabetes is finally on the EU agenda.”

He then dedicated the prize to the 52 million people living with diabetes across the European Union.

 

 

Dr Busuttil is currently the Leader of the Opposition in Malta. He graduated as a Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta in 1993 and then completed an MA in European Studies at the University of Sussex in 1994 and Magister Juris in International Law at the University of Malta in 1995.

Simon became a Member of the National Order of Merit of Malta in 2003.

In 2004 and 2009 Simon was elected to the European parliament with the Nationalist Party. Simon was awarded the 2012 Member of the European Parliament of the Year Award in the Health category for his continuous and successful efforts to put diabetes on the EU Agenda.

Since the formation of the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Global Network Simon has established a very active Parliamentary Working Group on Diabetes Mellitus in the Maltese Parliament, with the group recently presenting Health Choices. This work has since culminated in the government establishing a steering committee to define a National Diabetes Strategy for Malta. The paper acknowledged that Malta has the “…second highest percentage of diabetes in the Mediterranean...” and that “….diabetes is a growing problem and is a good example of why we need new thinking about how to provide integrated services in our National Health System”.

Dr Rachael Nyamai represents the Kitui South constituency in the National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya.

Rachael did her Ph.D. in Global Health at the Copenhagen School of Global Health in 2010. Prior to joining politics she was a lecturer at Kenyatta University and the South Eastern University College.

She is currently the Chairperson of the Committee on Health in the National Assembly and in April 2014 sponsored the Diabetes Management Bill 2014.

Rachael works tirelessly to spread the message on diabetes and has held free medical camps in her constituency with blood sugar testing taking place.