Yesterday, NHS England announced that up to 100,000 people in England will be offered places on their new diabetes prevention programme to stop them developing type 2 diabetes.

The programme will start this year in 27 locations offering 20,000 people the opportunity to enrol in the programme. The programme will be rolled out across England by 2020 giving up to 100,000 people access to this programme.

The NHS’s programme will give tailored, practical support to reduce a person’s risk of developing type two diabetes. This will include education on healthy eating and lifestyle, weight loss advice and tailored physical activity programmes.

The programme has been piloted in seven demonstrator sites over the past year. They  have been testing approaches to delivering  the programme and the results of this work has shaped the final programme to ensure the best results for patients.  The seven demonstrator sites are: Birmingham South and Central CCG, Bradford City CCG, Durham County Council, Herefordshire CCG/LA, Medway CCG/LA, Salford CCG/LA and Southwark Council and CCG.

We are delighted to hear of the rollout of this programme. The black community is at a higher risk of developing diabetes when compared to their white counterparts and this programme will be of huge benefit to our community. We strongly encourage the NHS to engage effectively with the black community and we strongly recommend that black people take part in this programme.

You can read more about NHS’s new Diabetes Prevention Programme here