James has shown support for JDRF, the world’s leading type 1 diabetes research charity, by attending the ‘Type 1 Parliament’ lobbying event which took place in Westminster on 25 April 2012. He attended the event alongside 50 other MPs, and spoke to adults and children about living with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 Parliament is kindly supported by Platinum sponsor Sanofi, Gold sponsor Lilly and Silver sponsors Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd, Animas UK & Ireland and Bayer Healthcare.
Type 1 diabetes is a serious autoimmune condition that causes the body’s own immune system to turn on itself and attack cells in the pancreas, which produce insulin. The condition affects about
300,000 adults in the UK, including over 26,000 children and requires multiple daily insulin injections and finger prick blood tests to manage.
Commenting on the event, James said “I fully support all research efforts into Type 1 diabetes and applaud the efforts of JDRF to increase the profile of this debilitating condition”
Over the last few years, JDRF has successfully built awareness for type 1 diabetes and has developed
a political presence within Westminster through the devolved administrations, campaigning on the postcode lottery on the provision of insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors and advocating the importance of funding medical research for type 1. In 2009 the UK Government, through the funding bodies including the Medical Research Council and National Institute of Health Research committed
£51 million to research, to tackle the growing problem of diabetes. Of this, only £6 million was applicable to type 1 diabetes. In relation to funding, the UK falls way behind other developed countries and JDRF believes that this needs to change. Not only will greater investment in research ensure we find the cure for type 1 diabetes sooner; it could also bring significant advantages to the UK economy.