News archive November 2008

Thank you and keep the information coming

Thank you for all the work you put in to making World Diabetes Day 2008 such a global success. Whatever you did on the day, I hope things went well. The pictures on the World Diabetes Day website tell the story of a remarkable shared experience. Here in Brussels we all dressed in blue, participated in local events during the day and in the evening lit our office building in blue.

We hoped to get 500...

But when we set the goal it seemed like a distant dream. Imagine then how we feel on November 14 to see the more than 1000 buildings and sites lit in blue to mark World Diabetes Day 2008.

It is time to take a step back, enjoy the moment and thank those who have done so much to make the day a success.

The Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has issued a statement on the occasion of World diabetes Day.

In his statement the Secretary General thanks the International Diabetes Federation and the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh for co-sponsoring the World Diabetes Day panel discussion on diabetes (held November 14 at the UN). He acknowledges that diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can strike children at any age and that diabetes is often diagnosed late or misdiagnosed.

Manneken-Pis, the famous Brussels landmark of a naked little boy urinating into a basin today joined the World Diabetes Day campaign. The famous bronze statue dressed up in the World Diabetes Day logo and let fly a steady flow of blue-tinted urine to draw attention to one of the more obvious warning signs of diabetes.

BBC World Service Radio has highlighted World diabetes Day on its popular Newshour Programme.

Newshour examines the diabetes, a disease that leads to one death every 10 seconds and threatens to overwhelm healthcare budgets worldwide. On the Programme, IDF President-Elect Jean Claude Mbanya, the World Health Oraganization’s Gojka Roglic and leading diabetologist Ambady Ramachandran provide a global perspective on diabetes.

The 13-minute programme is available now from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news.

Lemonade Life – the blog of World Diabetes Day friend Allison Blass is working with contacts to raise funds for the International Diabetes Federation's Life for a Child Program (www.lifeforachild.org).

Friend of World Diabetes Day Allison is a well-connected individual who strives to raise awareness of diabetes at every opportunity. Her friend (Allison seems to have so many!) Amanda has selected the Life for a Child project as the $5 Friday Twitter Challenge of the week.

Diabetes can strike children of any age - even toddlers and babies. If not detected early enough in children, the disease can be fatal or result in serious brain damage. Type 1 diabetes, if not treated is 100% fatal.

Dr Jean-Claude Mbanya, President-Elect of the International Diabetes Federation explains the importance of placing the focus on diabetes in children and the need to avoid unnecessary deaths.

IDF President-Elect Mbanya spoke to the United Nations Radio News Service about World Diabetes Day and the 2008 campaign theme.

Over at the World Diabetes Foundation’s Global Diabetes Walk site, more than 285,000 people from 69 countries worldwide have registered their World Diabetes Day walks.

Some of the walks have already taken place and WDF are recieving reports. Take a look at what’s going on over at http://www.globaldiabeteswalk.net.

If you haven’t heard of them yet, you soon will do. Well on their way to becoming a global pop phenomenon, the Jonas Brothers have seven platinum and gold records outside their native US, have just completed a sell-out European tour, and have filled 80,000 seat venues in Latin America. Nick, Kevin and Joe still found time to record a short radio piece for the World Diabetes Day campaign. And there’s a good reason why...

Danny Devito and his wife Rhea Perlman, veteran Hollywood actors of film and television, graciously donated their time to record Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in support of World Diabetes Day. The PSAs were recorded by the couple in their home studio. They will air on radio stations throughout the United States in early November.