Specsavers Shining a light on the importance of diabetes research

on 30 August 2024.

For International Day of Charity (5th September) Specsavers Ópticas is explaining the importance of finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

In Spain, there are over 1,000 people diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes every year, and most of those are under 15 years old. This is a growing problem, yet its cause is not known and there is no cure. The charity DiabetesCERO wants to change that by funding research projects in Spain to find the cure.
DiabetesCERO is the leading Spanish foundation investing in research into a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. Thanks to the support of thousands of people and companies around the world, they support and finance biomedical research projects to find a cure for this serious, chronic, autoimmune disease, diagnosed mainly in children. They work tirelessly to ensure that the scientific community has the resources it needs to advance research, with a single purpose: to change the future for millions of families.
Isabel Fenollar, store director of Specsavers Ópticas Javea, explains, ‘Diabetes is a very big problem on a global level and one that is growing quickly, with an estimated 537 million people in the world suffering from the disease. This disease is associated with a range of potentially serious health complications, if not correctly controlled.’
‘One of these complications, which we’re seeing more and more of during eye tests, is diabetic retinopathy. If this is undiagnosed and untreated, this can develop into Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and cause permanent vision impairment and blindness. The prevalence of DME among people living with Type 1 diabetes in Europe is around 8.8% and so we want to support DiabetesCERO to help them find a cure for this disease by pledging to raise €5,000 for the charity in 2024.
We were very proud to have raised €325 for the charity by climbing Montgó earlier this year and are collecting in store until the end of the year, with the goal of exceeding €500 from our store alone. We hope customers and local residents will get behind this great cause.’
For more information about DiabetesCERO visit www.diabetescero.org. To find your nearest Specsavers Ópticas store and make a donation visit www.specsavers.es.