On Friday, 8 March, at the Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) conference in Florence, Italy, GDAN was launched.
In front of nearly 70 healthcare professionals, industry stakeholders and diabetes advocates, plus many more online, the joint initiative of the Diabetes Leadership Council (DLC) and PDGN welcomed a panel of parliamentarians and people with diabetes.
Under the ‘The Power of Partnering with Parliamentarians’ heading, DLC CEO George Huntley welcomed the attendees and gave an overview of the background to DLC and its work in the USA.
PDGN Secretary Adrian Sanders compared the panel and later the Q&A, but first introduced and interviewed Giorgio Mulè, Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Senate.
The Italian Member of Parliament described how collaboration with diabetes advocates led to the unanimous passage on 13 September 2023 of groundbreaking legislation to screen for Type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease.
The second speaker was Sir George Howarth MP, a British Labour Party politician who serves as the Member of Parliament for Knowsley North near Liverpool.
Sir George shared his reflections on how politicians worked in partnership with people living with diabetes and families on the recent UK Parliamentary Inquiry into Type 1 Diabetes and Disordered Eating (T1DE). https://jdrf.org.uk/news/parliamentary-inquiry-calls-for-urgent-action-on-type-1-and-disordered-eating). The report he chaired jointly with former Prime Minister Theresa May MP examined the causes of T1DE and revealed the systematic flaws that place barriers in the way of effective and safe treatment.
Sir George set out some of the changes needed to improve the health of everyone living with T1DE in order to save lives and reduce long-term costs to the UK National Health Service.
The final guest was Renza Scibilia, Director of Community Building and Communication, Global Access, with JDRF International and Head of Advocacy of #dedoc° (www.dedoc.org).
She made a powerful and compelling case for policymakers to collaborate with people living with diabetes in order to bring about change and gave the example of #dedoc° that has brought over 400 people with diabetes to international events through scholarships to ensure the voices of people with diabetes are heard in policymaking.
At the end of the question session Adrian Sanders thanked those attending and Dexcom for sponsoring the launch.
Advocacy Action: Sign up for news from the GDAN by visiting https://gdan.org/#Mission.
Email #dedoc° to request a connection to any #dedoc° voices from your country: mail@dedoc.org
You can access a recording of the event here: