Diabetes initiative will put health site on the map

Published on Tuesday 2 October 2007 00:48

A PIONEERING partnership between the NHS, the private sector and academia to improve awareness and treatment of diabetes was signed yesterday in the Highlands.

The three sectors will unite at the Highland Diabetes Institute, to be completed next year as part of a centre for health science in Inverness. The centre will help establish the Highland capital as a major player in diabetes research and development.

The partnership will see specialist staff from NHS Highland, the UHI Millennium Institute - the forerunner of a Highlands and Islands university - and LifeScan Scotland, a multi-national company making diabetic help kits in Inverness, all work together under one roof.

Shona Robison, the minister for public health, said: "The institute will make a real difference. I hope that increased understanding of the disease will lead to improvements in the treatment of the condition.

"The institute will also provide a welcome boost to the already thriving life sciences sector in Scotland.

"This sector has grown significantly over the past decade and the new Scottish Government is keen to ensure Scotland remains at the forefront of leading-edge drug research and development."

The institute aims to improve academic understanding of diabetes and develop new products.

Professor Ian Megson, Chair of Diabetes at UHI, said: "This collaboration will bring huge benefits to our knowledge and understanding of this disease."

Todd Kinser, managing director at LifeScan Scotland, said the centre will provide an ideal opportunity to share experience and knowledge in a structured way.

Ruaraidh MacNeil, operations manager at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which helped broker the partnership deal, said: "This unique and exciting agreement places the Highlands at the vanguard of this developing industry."