THE PRESS THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1984. Mr Allen and diabetes

Press, 26 April 1984, Page 20

THE PRESS THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1984. Mr Allen and diabetes

At last, the uncertainty about the health and office of the Minister of Customs, Mr Allen, appears to have been dispelled. The Prime Minister has said that Mr Allen’s diabetic problem is being dealt with and that Mr Allen will stay in the Cabinet. The weeks that have passed since Mr Alien’s report of an attack upon him in the street at night on March 15 have meant that his complaint to the police, and his fitness to do his job, have been exposed to much public discussion. Only one matter seems to need tidying up; and this may never be completely settled. This is the ground for Mr Allen’s account of the physical attack upon him. The police have to determine whether more, if anything, can be done on this score. The questions may remain open: are there attackers to be found? Or was Mr Alien’s illness the origin of his belief that he had been attacked when, in fact, he had an accident? The nature of his illness allows either possibility, and Mr Allen’s word cannot be questioned. Mr Allen’s wish to remain in the Cabinet, and the Prime Minister’s acceptance of this, have a wider significance than the political import of avoiding a Cabinet resignation. It lies in the ability of the medical profession and the patient to manage diabetes so that a person can carry on working normally. Several members

of Parliament suffer from the disease. The number is pretty much in accord with the incidence of the disease in the adult population. The surprise would be if no member of Parliament were afflicted by an illness that is so widespread, and yet so capable of control as to pass unnoticed by outsiders. The problem for Mr Allen was that, in his instance, his medication was excessive, according to specialists who examined his case. Last week, the president of the Society for the Study of Diabetes, Professor Don Beaven, said that the society was concerned about loose talk of people with diabetes giving up jobs. Professor Beaven deplored such an attitude. He drew attention to the programmes of education for diabetic people so that they could manage their illness, adjust their treatment, and maintain blood sugar at a satisfactory level. Coming to terms with the illness may be difficult, but it is obviously important for all. In spite of Professor Beaven’s fears, no doubt justified at the time, Mr Allen’s example may have given unexpected prominence to the long campaign against diabetes, to educate public opinion, and to reinforce patients’ determination to accept and manage the disease so that it does not interfere unduly with normal life and work.