Mr. Speaker, many years ago Canada led the way in the discovery of insulin and in doing so gave those who suffer from type 1 diabetes a new lease on life. Tragically, the incidence of this chronic disease has not decreased but has increased and sufferers are contracting it at an earlier age, many of them just mere children.
Juvenile diabetes has a profound impact on the entire body and can cause blindness, amputations, kidney failure and premature death from heart disease. However, there is hope. We can find a cure.
Here is the challenge to the government. Give a five year commitment of $25 million a year and we will be able to find a cure for juvenile diabetes through islet cell transplantation, regenerating the body's own beta cells, and finding new therapeutics to predict, prevent and reverse complications.
There are 200,000 individuals in Canada who suffer from this disease. We ask the Government of Canada to make a five year commitment of $25 million a year and we will find a cure for juvenile diabetes.