The Mayor of Dudley met fellow type 2 diabetes sufferers yesterday (22 February) at an education programme in Wolverhampton run by Wolves Community Trust. 

The Mayor, Councillor Mohammed Hanif, shared his experiences with participants on the X-PERT education programme at the Molineux.

X-PERT helps people learn new skills and knowledge on how to manage their condition. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes (90%) and develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). Councillor Mohammed Hanif, Mayor of Dudley, said:

“It was a pleasure to meet the participants on the programme and I hope that I was able to offer them some words of wisdom about my experience of the condition.

“I hope that I helped them to realise that with a good management strategy they can live a full and healthy life without having to completely change their lifestyle. As diabetes type 2 plays such a role in my life I have chosen to support Diabetes UK Dudley branch as one of three charities during my mayoral year.”

Diabetes type 2 is strongly linked to being overweight and usually appears in people over the age of 40, although in South Asian and African-Caribbean people, this can appear as young as 25. However, type 2 diabetes is on the increase among adults and children, with some children as young as seven being diagnosed.

X-PERT is part of Tackle Diabetes, a structured education programme that has been running for the past 6 years. Wolves Community Trust work in partnership with City of Wolverhampton council – Public Health and NHS New Cross Dietetics team.

The Mayor of Dudley’s other two charities are Friends of Alfie Johnson and Dudley CIL.