* Walk starts Monday 19 April in Mornington Penninsula *

Mr Greg Hunt, MP, Federal Member for Flinders in Victoria, will undertake a 500km walk between 19 April and 7 May to raise awareness of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and raise money for research to find a cure for this insidious and dangerous disease.

Greg will be joined by senior members of the community and parliamentary colleagues during his marathon walk.

Greg began planning the major event after meeting Justin Babare in Canberra. Six year old Justin, who has had type 1 diabetes for four years, was one of 100 children from around Australia who traveled to Parliament House last year to speak with politicians about what it is like to have type 1 diabetes and to ask for their help in funding research to find a cure.

“Through meeting Justin I learned more about type 1 diabetes and how difficult it is to live with,” said Greg. “I decided that I would do whatever I could to raise awareness within the community and help JDRF find a cure for this dangerous, deadly disease.”

Three generations of Greg’s family have been struck by diabetes and Greg recently lost someone very close to his family due to complications flowing from type 1 diabetes .

The 500km Walk extends the length and breadth of Greg’s electorate. Starting at Arthur’s Seat on the Mornington Penninsula, it will end with an official reception at Cowes Jetty at Philip Island. Along the way Greg will visit 54 schools and various other centres to speak about diabetes and raise funds. Local schools are planning to hold gold coin days and other similar events and 200 children from Justin’s primary school, Cowes Primary, will walk the final 2km with Greg.

Between community and corporate support, Greg aims to raise $25,000, which will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Type 1 diabetes is the most serious form of diabetes. A life-long ‘autoimmune’ disease, the body’s immune system turns on itself, destroying the insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas and removing the body’s ability to produce insulin. It usually begins in childhood or early adulthood, although it can occur at any age.

People with type 1 diabetes must take up to 6 insulin injections every day for the rest of their lives, just to stay alive. They must also draw blood from their fingers to test their blood glucose levels more than four times each day. Unlike the more widespread type 2 diabetes which is common in the older population, it cannot be prevented, nor can it be managed by diet or other lifestyle choices alone. There is no cure.

Type 1 diabetes ravages almost every organ in the body. A majority of people who have had the disease for 20 years will suffer from debilitating health problems, including kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack and stroke. It vastly reduces quality of life and reduces life expectancy by 15 years on average.

“During their meeting last year, Justin asked Greg to commit himself to supporting policies and research to fight and eventually cure the disease,” said Sheila Royles, CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

“JDRF is delighted that Greg has backed up his words with such positive action. Progress towards a cure has accelerated in recent years and scientists are confident that they will be able to cure and prevent type 1 diabetes. Such commitment and support takes us that much closer to our goal.”

Greg Hunt, Sheila Royles and Justin Babare are available for interview.

A high resolution image of Greg Hunt and Justin Babare is available.

For further information:

Karolyn Andrews, Media & PR Manager, JDRF
Ph. 02 9966 0400 (x203) or 0403 787 077 | email: kandrews@jdrf.org.au