Unite for diabetes

World Diabetes Day proclaimed in Chicago

2007-08-08T08:57:00

In the USA, the Mayor of Chicago Richard M Daley has signed a proclamation stating that November 14, 2007 will be World Diabetes Day in Chicago. The Proclamation urges all Chicagoans to help fight diabetes by increasing awareness of the risk factors for diabetes, making healthy lifestyle choices and providing care and treatment to people with diabetes.

Download the Proclamation.

Diabetes Lights up Empire State Building

2007-07-17T09:41:00

To mark the first UN-observed World Diabetes Day, the Empire State Building in New York will be lit up in blue.

The blue circle is the global symbol for diabetes and has been adopted as the logo for World Diabetes Day. It signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes pandemic.

The Empire State Building on 14 November will also signify that unity and will highlight support for UN Resolution 61/225: World Diabetes Day. The Resolution on diabetes was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006 and “invites all Member States, relevant organizations of the United Nations system and other international organizations, as well as civil society including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to observe World Diabetes Day.”

Proudly taking up that challenge, the Empire State Building serves as a beacon for all world monuments and great buildings.

Help celebrate World Diabetes Day by lighting up the landmark monuments in your country, city, or area, to mark November 14.

Unite for Diabetes, Inspired by Diabetes

2007-07-17T09:34:00

The International Diabetes Federation’s Unite for Diabetes campaign is proud to partner with Eli Lilly and Company in inspiring the world about diabetes.

Inspired by Diabetes is a global campaign asking people with diabetes, as well as their family, friends and healthcare professionals, to express how diabetes has impacted their lives — and share those stories with others around the world.

IDF has been committed to increasing diabetes awareness, and promoting diabetes care, prevention and a cure worldwide. Inspired by Diabetes builds on this mission by bringing families and people with diabetes together to raise awareness of the global burden of diabetes — and drawing particular attention to people who do not have the resources they need to fight diabetes.

Tell your story

The Inspired by Diabetes Creative Expression Competition has been launched first in the United States but will also expand globally. The Competition builds on the theme of IDF’s World Diabetes Day 2007-2008 campaign, dedicated to children and adolescents living with or at risk of diabetes worldwide.

Visit Inspired by Diabetes and tell how you are inspired by diabetes.

By entering the Creative Expression Competition, you can have a direct impact.

When you enter the contest, you will receive two "blue circle" diabetes pins, illustrating the global symbol for diabetes. For each set of pins distributed, a dollar will be donated to the International Diabetes Federation’s Life for a Child Program, which provides diabetes care for children in developing nations.

Life for a Child

For any child in any country, the diagnosis of diabetes can be devastating. With access to appropriate education, treatment and equipment, most children can learn to manage their diabetes effectively.

Unfortunately, the majority of children living in developing countries do not have access to the life saving medicines they need. As a result, they become chronically ill; many die quickly, while others develop severe complications such as kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage.

IDF’s Life for a Child Program is a global initiative that provides insulin, diabetes supplies and diabetes education to help these children survive.

Eli Lilly and Company is one of Life for a Child’s major corporate sponsors. In addition to donating the cost of the blue circle diabetes pins, Lilly will make a separate donation to support the Life for a Child Program on behalf of entrants in the Inspired by Diabetes competition.

Tell your story and give life to a child!

Gulf States pledge to make diabetes a priority

2007-07-17T08:57:00

The Health Ministers of the Gulf States have thrown their full support behind the United Nations resolution on diabetes and have pledged to do their part to reverse the diabetes epidemic.

Meeting the Geocaching Challenge!

2007-06-08T09:32:00

Congratulations to Angela Schaafsma-Marcucci, of Victoria, Canada, who is the winner of the first Unite for Diabetes Geocaching Challenge.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt which requires participants, or ‘geocachers’, to use GPS systems to tap into a satellite network to search for hidden containers (geocaches). The campaign treasure is a Unite for Diabetes travel bug, the official Unite for Diabetes pin with a metal tag attached. A form of ‘geocaching hitchhiker’, the travel bug moves physically from geocache to geocache, as geocachers alert each other to the cache’s existence and whereabouts.

The challenge involved submitting a photograph based upon a goal set for the Unite for Diabetes travel bugs. Quarterly goals have been set to capture the essence of a chosen theme photographically. The first goal, or theme, was ‘fun’, so participants took a picture of their travel bug in a way which conjured up the idea of fun.

We had some great entries for the first challenge but we felt that Angela’s picture and caption "Reaching for a goal!" (shown left) stood out as representing the values of the Unite for Diabetes Campaign. Her "Angarsk, Russia" Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug can be tracked here

Angela wins a state-of-the-art GPS Unit. We hope she continues to enjoy geocaching using her new kit!

We were impressed with the quality of entries received and delighted that this initiative has captured the imagination of the geocaching community. Involvement in this and all the other Unite for Diabetes initiatives has been invaluable in helping to raise awareness of the Unite for Diabetes campaign. We are grateful for your continued support in driving the need for urgent action in the face of this growing global epidemic.

Watch this space for news of the next winner!

Anyone wanting to participate in the geocaching challenge should go to the dedicated website, where they will find full instructions:
http://unite.geocaching.com/participate/

Unite for Diabetes bugs take the world by storm!

2007-03-01T10:34:00

A geocaching travelbug

Towards the end of 2006, some 20,000 Unite for Diabetes Travel Bugs were distributed around the world to gather support for a UN Resolution on diabetes. Each Travel Bug (consisting of a Unite for Diabetes pin attached to a metal tag) is dedicated to a specific city and to the people with diabetes who live there. The aim was for each Travel Bug to reach its respective city and circulate throughout the geocaches (containers) located there, spreading diabetes awareness wherever it goes. Treasure hunters, or ’geocachers’, use global positioning systems (GPS) to locate a particular geocache.

Since the release of the bugs, over 40,000 log entries have been submitted on the Unite for Diabetes geocaching website by registered geocachers all over the world, informing that a particular travel bug has been received and what has been done with it. This is a tremendous success for the initiative and a valuable contribution towards helping to bring diabetes out of the shadows.

To find out how you can get involved, visit http://unite.geocaching.com.

Resolution is turning point in fight against diabetes

2006-12-21T12:40:00

Martin Silink, President of the International Diabetes Federation

Dear Friends

History will undoubtedly record December 20th 2006 as the turning point in the fight against diabetes. On this day the United Nations General Assembly passed a landmark Resolution recognizing diabetes as a chronic, debilitating and costly disease associated with major complications that pose severe risks for families, countries and the entire world.

For the first time, governments have acknowledged that a non-infectious disease is as serious a global threat as the infectious epidemics. The Resolution has designated the current IDF World Diabetes Day, November 14th as a United Nations Day to be observed every year starting in 2007. It calls on all nations to develop national policies for the prevention, treatment and care of diabetes in line with sustainable development of their healthcare systems.

The campaign for a UN Resolution on diabetes, led by the International Diabetes Federation, has brought together the largest ever diabetes coalition, including IDF member associations, the majority of the world’s scientific and professional diabetes societies, many charitable foundations and service organizations, as well as industry. It has shown how strong we are when we ’Unite for Diabetes’.

The campaign has been a huge global effort involving both a top-down political approach and a grass-roots awareness movement on behalf of the 246 million people living with diabetes and many millions more at risk. While it is an almost impossible task to thank every individual involved, in due course IDF will pay proper tribute to the many people who championed the cause in their own countries, within their organizations and at the UN.

However, at this stage, we do wish to pay tribute to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for sponsoring the Resolution at the UN until it was accepted by the G77 (a coalition of 133 developing and transitional countries at the UN led by the Republic of South Africa). The ownership of the Resolution by this majority voting bloc convinced the countries of the developed world to throw their support behind the Resolution with the final vote being by consensus.

The real beneficiaries of the Resolution will be people living with diabetes, their families and many more at risk. Passing the UN Resolution, while monumental for the diabetes world, is just the first step. A phase will now begin to celebrate the passage of the Resolution and mark the first UN-observed World Diabetes Day on November 14 2007. It is IDF’s goal to reach 1 billion people with awareness messaging about diabetes care and prevention.

With Regards

Professor Martin Silink
President, International Diabetes Federation

UN Resolution Caps Momentous Year for Diabetes World

2006-12-21T01:41:00

New York - The United Nations General Assembly has today passed a landmark Resolution recognizing the global threat of the diabetes epidemic. For the first time, governments have acknowledged that a non-infectious disease poses as serious a threat to world health as infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Read the press release

G77 support a UN Resolution on diabetes

2006-12-06T19:28:00

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has announced that the ‘Unite for Diabetes’ campaign enjoys the support of the G77.

The G77 is the largest voting block in the UN. It is comprised of the 133 countries from the developing world. The G77 has taken ownership of the Resolution and its current Chair South Africa will take on the role of sponsoring country. The Resolution on diabetes has been tabled at the General Assembly of the United Nations (L39 under Agenda Item 113) . The Resolution is sponsored and supported by a growing coalition of countries, including Bangladesh, South Africa, Portugal, the Russian Federation and the United States. The Resolution will be formally voted on in the next few days. It is expected that the Resolution will be passed by consensus and there will be a United Nations Resolution on diabetes by the end of the year. This will be the first time a non-communicable disease will be recognized by Governments and, if passed World Diabetes Day will have official awareness at the UN.

“The IDF has declared war on diabetes. This Resolution will be of immense significance. It is the first time Governments around the world have recognized the severity of the diabetes epidemic” said Professor Martin Silink, Incoming IDF President. “For the first time ever a non-communicable disease will be recognized and Governments will work with diabetes stakeholders to defeat this epidemic. Up till now it has been the communicable diseases that have captured the major attention of the world’s governments despite non-communicable diseases accounting for over 60 percent of morbidity and mortality in the world.”

“The importance of the United Nations Resolution is that it will ask for November 14th to be observed as a United Nations World Day it also asks for all member states to establish national policies on the treatment prevention and care of diabetes,” said Silink.

Diabetes circles take over Cape Town

2006-12-06T19:24:00

Thousands upon thousands of blue diabetes circles are visible all over Cape Town. The blue diabetes circle represents the campaign for a United Nations Resolution on diabetes and has fast become the global symbol for diabetes (in much the same way as the red ribbon represents HIV/AIDS). The icon stands for unity in diabetes and symbolizes support for the campaign for a United Nations Resolution on diabetes. The circles are being distributed in their tens of thousands during IDF's 19th World Diabetes Congress. The congress is Africa’s largest-ever diabetes event.

Most of the over 12,000 congress delegates can be seen throughout the city wearing the diabetes symbol.

The new President of the International Diabetes Federation, Martin Silink made an impassioned appeal to the global diabetes community gathered in Cape Town. "IDF has declared war on diabetes. This blue circle is our banner - the standard under which we fight. I would like it to become as well known as the red ribbon."

The concept

From the outset, IDF looked for simplicity in order to facilitate widespread reproduction and use of the symbol by anyone who wishes to support the campaign: Something so simple that a child could draw it with a crayon. The icon can be replicated at low cost and integrated readily into any diabetes campaign.

The choice of shape

Circles occur frequently in nature and have thus been used symbolically since the dawn of civilization. The circle is the sun, the moon, and the stars that guide us; it is the first ripple in the pond. The significance of the circle is overwhelmingly positive. Across cultures, the circle symbolizes life, mother earth and health. Most significantly for the campaign, the circle signifies unity. The global diabetes community must come together to support a United Nations Resolution on diabetes. Our combined strength is the key element that makes this campaign so special.

The choice of colour

The blue border of the circle reflects the colour of the sky under which we all stand and is the same colour as the flag of the United Nations. Indeed, the organization is itself a symbol of unity amongst nations. It is the only body that can signal to governments everywhere that it is time to reverse the global diabetes epidemic that threatens economic advancement and causes so much suffering.