Diabetes patients in Bradford have been urged to learn more about the disease to safeguard their health.

A new report by Diabetes UK is calling on patients to take greater responsibility for themselves after it found many did not understand the disease or its implications.

Bradford has a high proportion of people with diabetes, which is more common within the South Asian population.

Diabetes UK is launching a campaign to highlight the seriousness of the condition and has produced ten tips to help patients and those at risk.

The charity's report Power to the People shows many of those with the disease have dangerous gaps in their knowledge.

Fewer than half - and only eight per cent of Asian and black patients - knew the condition could cause heart disease.

And almost three in ten people did not link diabetes with blindness. Patients were not taking all their medication either, the report found.

Only one in three people with type two diabetes took all their tablets and sufferers followed healthy eating advice about half of the time. Paul Streets, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "Many people with diabetes look after themselves well but 'many people' is not enough - it should be everyone.

"If you don't manage it well you are putting yourself at risk of heart disease, blindness and strokes."

The report says people with diabetes must be better educated to help them manage the disease.

A majority of GP practices do not have diabetes clinics and only ten per cent have education programmes about the disease.

Bradford is already working to improve its diabetes services and give patients more information.

Bradford City Primary Care Trust has been given £10,000 from the Department of Health to help people most at risk of developing the condition.

As part of the two-year pilot project, patients at risk will be screened to try to find up to 4,000 people in the city centre area who might be undiagnosed.

A focus group of patients being treated by the trust has also been set up to find out how they would like services to develop.

The trust is aiming to ensure there is a diabetes clinic within every GP surgery in its area by March 2004.