- It’s estimated that 200,000 people in Ireland have Diabetes.

- 20,000 people in Ireland have Type 1 Diabetes.

- 2,500 Children & Teens under the age of 19 have Type 1 Diabetes.

- On average 314 Irish legs will be amputated because of complications of Diabetes this year. (From Diabetes Action).

- 440 Irish people die because of Diabetes every year (from CSO 2006 census).

- There are 8 structured education programmes in Ireland for people with diabetes with limited access.

Type 1 Courses: CODE T1, DAFNE and BRUCIE

Type 2 Courses: X-PERT, DESMOND, CODE and ORLA

- There is one organisation which advocates for the Diabetes patient: The Diabetes Federation of Ireland (membership approx. 4,000)

- There is one organisation which is encouraging Diabetes research in Ireland: Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance.

- Thanks to the internet there are hundreds of blogs about diabetes that Irish people have access to and also a number of facebook groups and pages founded by Irish people.

        Diabetes In Ireland Facebook Page
        Cork Diabetes Parents Support Group
        Mayo Diabetes Parents Group
        http://www.mydiabetes.ie/?page_id=27

I know the above statistics do not paint a pretty picture for people with diabetes in Ireland but it’s important to remember that there are no statistics for the number of people who are living well with diabetes but there are lots of us :-)

Happy St. Patricks Day!