This is
a brief post, the first of two that I shall be publishing in the next two days.
Tomorrow’s is about my experience of a DAFNE course, and as such it is typical
of the sort of stuff that I and many others post because we have diabetes. I
hope it is at least interesting to others and potentially helpful to them. But
in the end, it’s self-indulgent and trivial.
However,
this one is anything but. I’m
writing this post because of a campaign which has been drawn to our attention
by one Chris Aldred, better known to the dia-world as the Grumpy Pumper
For
this, Chris deserves endless credit: beneath that grumpy persona beats a heart of pure
gold, as we all know, and he has done us all a favour by reminding us just how
lucky we are, or more importantly, how unlucky others are. And to do something
about it.
It’s
about the Spare a Rose Campaign, which aims to draw attention to the
grotesque inequalities that exist as regards diabetes care and treatment in
different countries. Quite simply, this should remind all of us in the UK that
however badly done by we may feel, our life with diabetes is – excuse the pun –
a bed of roses compared to many other parts of the world.
We were
reminded in the news only yesterday by the clergyman father of Lauri Love, the
English computer hacker threatened with extradition to the USA for allegedly
stealing details from the FBI, that "To be born English is to win
first prize in the lottery of life" This is variation of a quotation originally
attributed to Cecil Rhodes, yet despite that provenance from a man who represents
much that is wrong about our past, it is not a bad thought to carry in the
context of healthcare.
We are the lucky ones.
Take this as an example: A few minutes ago, I received a
delivery of FreeStyle Libre sensors, brought to my door by a courier, and paid
for by me. I had tracked their arrival on an app on my phone, and immediately
announced it to the world of Twitter, because there has been an issue regarding
delays in sensor supplies to UK customers, caused, it is alleged, by the spike
in demand caused by their availability on the NHS. It’s the sort of thing we
all tend to do on social media. We moan because we can.
How pathetic am I, that I have been
bothered about a delay – only a delay – in the availability of a device which
is, yes, of great value to my diabetes management, but essentially a luxury in
a worldwide context.
Elsewhere in the world, it is a
shortage, or unavailability of, insulin which is the issue. In the USA, it is
the extortionate price of insulin which is the issue. And indeed less than a
hundred years ago, insulin therapy had yet to be invented. Successful treatment
of Type One Diabetes started within living memory, and in many parts of the
world is still not a reality.
So let’s just remember that next time
we moan about some frankly trivial aspect of our care and treatment by the NHS.
We are the lucky ones. And before anyone accuses me of finger pointing, may I
remind myself that whenever you point a finger at someone, there are three
fingers pointing back.
Let’s all join our man Grumps and donate
the cost of a Valentine’s rose – or more if we can. Let’s all Spare
a Rose. The website is here:-
Chris will be leading a #gbdoc tweetchat
on the topic tonight, Wednesday 7 February 2018 at 21:00 GMT from
the @GBDocTChost account. Please join in if you can, and let's give some less fortunate than ourselves a metaphorical Kiss from a Rose
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