More than 120,000 diabetics are discriminated against in the workplace, at school and when buying insurance cover, according to the Diabetes Federation of Ireland (DFI), writes Paul Cullen
The federation says it plans to take anti-discrimination cases against employers if they do not update their policies to take account of major developments in diabetes management.
Many diabetics are banned from working in the Garda, the fire and ambulance services, the Defence Forces, flying aircraft and driving buses, working on oil rigs and at heights, according to the federation's magazine, Diabetes Ireland.
The chief executive of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley, said the Garda and Defence Forces were exempted from equality legislation. However, new EU regulations would require a change in this situation.
Dr Tony O'Sullivan, policy committee chairman of the DFI, described blanket employment bans as "a lazy option for employers". Diabetics, making use of modern technology for supplying insulin, were capable of taking on "all kinds of work".
"Ireland is at the bottom of the league in Europe in the way it treats diabetics. Everywhere else is changing, but we're holding on to an old-style, discriminatory regime, purely out of laziness."
Dr O'Sullivan, a diabetes sufferer for over 25 years, says new treatments such as long-acting insulin or pump treatments, have made diabetes much easier to manage. Shiftwork, sleep disturbance and missing meals are now less of a problem.
The Finnish army, the London ambulance service and the aviation industry in the US and Canada have all allowed diabetics increased access to jobs, he says.
The Defence Forces say diabetics are excluded from enlisting because soldiers are required to be "medically and psychologically fit" for war fighting. Military training is "physically demanding, stretches endurance capabilities, involves periods of sleep deprivation and may involve irregular meal patterns". Operational and peacekeeping tasks involve "higher than normal risk of sustaining major trauma".
The federation claims insurance companies apply loadings of 150-300 per cent to many diabetics. However, last year's report of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board recommended that insurers do not apply disability-based loadings or policy limitations unless there was evidence of increased risk. This recommendation was implemented last August.
There are 120,000 diabetics in Ireland, but the federation believes that at least as many people again have the condition but have not been diagnosed. More and more young people are succumbing to type 2 diabetes, which was traditionally found mainly in the over 50s due to sedentary lifestyles.
Diabetes occurs when the sugar (glucose) level in the blood is too high. This happens when the body is not burning up carbohydrates properly due to a defect in the pancreas, the gland which produces insulin. Insulin is the hormone which keeps blood sugar levels within the normal healthy range.
More information is available from www.diabetes.ie or 1850 909909.