21
Nov
2022
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Prevention, management and better care of diabetes in the EU on the occasion of World Diabetes Day (debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, let me first of all thank the rapporteurs for their exemplary cooperation in negotiating this resolution, which I have had the honour to chair. I hope that the consensus that we have had throughout the process can also be translated into a smooth vote. What has not been agreed on, however, and I regret it, is once again the issue of patent rights. It's been almost 100 years since insulin inventor Frederick Banting renounced his patent on this substance and uttered the famous phrase: “Insulin belongs to the world, not to me”. And it is sad that almost 100 years after this scientist's self-sacrificing gesture, some of my colleagues, especially from the right, are so ideologically blinded that they refuse even to mention this step in the resolution under discussion. Up to 32 million people in the EU live with some type of diabetes. Half of them don't normally have the right blood sugar levels, leading to long-term and serious health problems. On the occasion of World Diabetes Day and 100 years after the selfless gesture of a scientist, we must deepen our cooperation at European level in the fight against this disease.