DIABETES BLUE MONUMENT CHALLENGE AND DOWNING STREET

That this House welcomes the historicdecision of the Prime Minister to light the facade of Downing Street blue, the internationally recognised colour for diabetes, to raise awareness of World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2012; commends all the other organisations throughout the world, including Leicester City Football Club and the Leicester Mercury, which will also light up blue; is concerned that the number of those in the UK with diabetes is an estimated 3.7 million and is expected to rise to 4.4 million by 2020, and that an estimated 24,000 people per year in the UK with diabetesdie prematurely as a result of causes that could have been avoided through better management of their condition; and urges the Government to adopt necessary and immediate preventative policies to address this growing epidemic.