Price of diabetes hits £10m a week

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Spending on NHS drugs and other care for sufferers of the disease reached £562 million last year, up from £167 million in 1998, according to the Prescription Pricing Authority.

In the same period, the number of prescriptions written by GPs on drugs and equipment such as needles and blood testing kits nearly tripled, from 12.92 million to 32 million.

Doctors say the figures reveal the true impact of the obesity epidemic, which is helping to fuel the rise in type 2 diabetes.

Nine out of ten diabetes patients - or two million - have type 2, which occurs when the body gradually loses the ability to process blood sugar. This number will double by 2010.

Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said doctors were able to treat the disease much more aggressively these days.

"But all this is expensive. It's much more important to prevent diabetes by promoting lifestyle changes and weight management."