The campaign calls on everyone to know:

• the signs and symptoms associated with diabetes;
• who to turn to once diagnosed; and
• how to manage diabetes and take control.

Diabetes affects over 250 million people worldwide each year. Globally it is the fourth leading cause of disease related death. The International Diabetes Federation predicts that over 380 million people worldwide will live with diabetes by 2025.

The good news is that over 50% of cases of type 2 diabetes can be prevented by adopting healthy lifestyle approaches such as maintaining a healthy weight, eating a balanced diet and taking regular physical activity.

Multidisciplinary care services are available for people with diabetes in Kensington and Chelsea to assist in understanding diabetes and managing the condition better.

To find out more about the following two programmes for people with diabetes, contact the Community Diabetes Service on  020 7792 7762  or by e-mail diabetes.service@kc-pct.nhs.uk

1. X-PERT is an award winning education programme for people with Type 2 Diabetes to increase skills in managing the condition. The 6 week programme helps people to understand diabetes, weight management, carbohydrate counting and complications. It also includes a supermarket tour to understand food labelling and make healthier choices.

2. Diabetes UK Support Group Kensington and Chelsea helps to raise awareness of diabetes and improve local diabetes services through influencing projects and departments in RBKC and the local NHS. The groups are run by volunteers and give the opportunity to share experiences and challenges that comes from living with diabetes.

For more information visit:

http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/

http://www.kc-pct.nhs.uk/services/diabetes/default.aspx

Be careful not to use scientific words for common conditions that are unfamiliar to consumers and never suggest that consumers should use certain products in excess.

If advertisers claim that products are guaranteed to work, they should have enough proof of these claims. So called “natural” products should not imply that they are effective or safe just because it excludes certain ingredients in common use.

Where there are medical claims, these claims should be backed up with sufficient evidence. These claims will be assessed based on the scientific knowledge available to the Advertising Standards Authority at the time of the claim.