Melbourne Heart FC today announced Diabetes College as the Club’s short sponsor for the Hyundai A-League 2013-14 season in a partnership that will help raise awareness of Type 2 diabetes.
Melbourne Heart FC today announced Diabetes College as the Club-s short sponsor for the Hyundai A-League 2013-14 season in a partnership that will help raise awareness of Type 2 diabetes.
The new accord between the Club and the Diabetes College aims to draw attention to the delay and prevention of Type 2 diabetes, through healthier eating, physical activity and healthier lifestyle choices.
DiabetesCollege.com promotes the new nationally accredited course in Understanding and Management of Diabetes (10046NAT), which is imperative for people working in industries or occupations where diabetes could affect their ability to maintain employment or where a diagnosis of diabetes can affect a person-s ability to gain employment.
Melbourne Heart FC CEO Scott Munn welcomed the new partnership.
“While diabetes affects a large number of people within Australia, there is still little understanding about the management and prevention of diabetes,” Munn said.
“This partnership will help to raise further awareness of diabetes in the wider community, but also the fantastic work that the Diabetes College conducts in Australia.”
Type 2 diabetes is preventable in approximately 60 per cent of all cases with diet, exercise and lifestyle choices the main factors.
Studies show that approximately 1.5 million Australians have diabetes and one in four Australian adults aged 25 or older have diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Alarmingly, at least 500,000 Australians are unaware they have the condition.
“The Melbourne Heart and Diabetes Campaign is an exciting opportunity to help raise awareness about Type 2 diabetes in Australia through the Club,” Diabetes College CEO Ian P McAllister said.
“This new course is the first and only nationally accredited course in Australia and we look forward to the official launch on World Diabetes Day – 14th November 2013.”
Diabetes Fast Facts
• 1 in 4 Australian adults (aged 25+) have diabetes or pre-diabetes.
• Diabetes is known as the silent pandemic as at least 500,000 Australians unaware that they have the condition.
• Diabetes is set to become the leading cause of disease burden in Australia by 2020 (AIHW 2013).
• Approximately 80 per cent of people are overweight at first diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.
• An estimated 63 per cent of Australian adults are now overweight or obese (ABS 2013).
• Diabetes is the leading cause of: kidney failure, vision loss and amputations in Australia.
• 3 in 5 people with diabetes also have cardiovascular disease.
• 7.2 million pharmaceutical scripts were claimed for diabetes medicines in 2011.
• Indigenous Australians are three times more likely to develop diabetes compared to the general population.
• Diabetes costs Australia over $1 million per hour and significant lost working days to employers and industry.
• On average, people with Type 2 diabetes will die five to ten years before people without diabetes, mostly due to cardiovascular disease, twice as likely to develop depression and twice as likely to have a heart attack as people without diabetes.
• Type 2 diabetes is preventable is around 60% of cases with diabetes awareness education covering healthy eating, increased physical activity and understanding the risk factors and complications due to diabetes.
