Three months to go to World Diabetes Day!

WDD logo now available in 50 languages

The World Diabetes Day logo is available in the following 50 languages:

Albanian; Arabic; Azeri; Bahasa; Bengali; Bislama; Catalan; Chinese; Croatian; Danish; Dutch; English; Estonian; Filipino; Finnish; French; German; Greek; Guarani; Hausa; Hungarian; Icelandic; Indonesian; Irish; Italian; Japanese; Khmer; Korean; Latvian; Malagasy; Maltese; Mongolian; Nepalese; Polish; Portuguese; Romanian; Russian; Serbian; Slovak; Slovene; Spanish; Swahili; Swedish; Thai; Tigrina; Turkish; Vietnamese; Welsh; Yoruba; Zulu.

View all the logos.

Is your language missing from the list? If so, why not translate the lines below into your language and send them to us so that we can include a version in your language?

Translate the following lines in exactly the order shown here and send the translation to worlddiabetesday@idf.org:

• International Diabetes Federation
• World Diabetes Day
• November 14

Dress up your Twitter profile for diabetes

If you are one of the growing numbers of people using Twitter, then show your support for diabetes by adding a blue circle twibbon to your Twitter profile image.

A twibbon is a way of showing your support for a cause by overlaying an image, in this case the diabetes blue circle, onto your Twitter profile avatar. It’s quick and it’s easy. Just go to http://twibbon.com/join/Diabetes-3 and follow the simple instructions. Thanks go to Manny Hernandez from WDD Champion the Diabetes Hands Foundation for this great idea.

You can follow World Diabetes Day on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdd. And don’t forget to join the World Diabetes Day campaign on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100331240644&ref=mf

Desert Dingo Racing to bring WDD car to Montreal

World Diabetes Day Champion Desert Dingo Racing is a team of high-tech professionals based in Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley, California. They drive a Class 11 VW Beetle in off-road desert racing in the US and Mexico. Their 1969 Volkswagen Beetle races the deserts of Mexico’s Baja peninsula during the annual Baja 1000 as the official World Diabetes Day race car.

The team is as committed to community service as it is to winning the legendary Baja 1000. Desert Dingo Racing supports the World Diabetes Day campaign by helping raise awareness of diabetes issues related to the campaign theme. Each year the team hosts a drive-a-thon fundraiser in conjunction with the Baja 1000 to support diabetes awareness and raise money for diabetes causes.

In October, Desert Dingo Racing will bring the car to the World Diabetes Congress in Montreal, where it will be on public display near the entrance to the Montreal Convention Centre for the duration of the Congress (October 18-22). Team drivers Richard Palasik and Jim Graham will be on hand to talk about what they are doing and why they feel there is a need to find new ways to raise awareness of diabetes. For more information, visit http://www.desertdingo.com.

Adventure racing team shows winning ways in Spain

The One Touch Ultra Adventure Racing team recently completed the 4th race in Spain’s challenging Adventure Racing Championship. While the team may not have made it among the medals this time, the fact that they finished the gruelling course, which combines mountain biking, running, climbing, canoeing, and gorge walking, was a clear demonstration of how people with diabetes can compete in all sports at the highest level.

The One Touch Ultra Adventure Racing team was formed in 2002 by a group of friends, most of whom have diabetes. The friends shared a common interest in adventure racing, a sport that combines two or more disciplines. Most of the members know each other from the regional diabetes association of Madrid (Spain).

In 2002, the team decided to take part in ‘Eco Adventure’, a non-stop, 24-hour adventure race. The race presented a significant challenge. Regardless, the team managed to complete the race within the time limits and in doing so realized that diabetes need not be an obstacle to their participation in further adventure races. Since then they have all improved significantly and now take part in national and international adventure races.

The One Touch Ultra team is proud to carry the blue circle, the global symbol for diabetes on their gear. In support of the 2009-2013 WDD campaign, the team will organize activities with children and adolescents to teach them about the importance of diabetes education, not only for the management of diabetes and prevention of diabetes complications but also as a tool for achieving a level of independence and self-sufficiency.

Spas to hold awareness days for diabetes

World Diabetes Day Champion Candy Silvasy will once again host BlueBeauty global spa days for World Diabetes Day through Spa4Diabetes, a non-profit that raises awareness and money for diabetes research. In 2008, Spa4Diabetes rallied the global spa and beauty community to go blue on World Diabetes Day through the BlueBeauty campaign. Spas around the globe were asked to create blue-themed or diabetes-related spa treatments to offer on 14 November. Over 50 spas in 5 countries participated. Because of its popularity last year, the BlueBeauty campaign will run for the entire week of World Diabetes Day this year. The money raised will go to local diabetes charities.

Candy urges everyone to refer spas to the programme by contacting her (see details below): “With over 25,000 spas in the world it is impossible for us to reach them all. We are seeking representatives in each country to rally their spas.” Advocating the spa lifestyle as an engaging way to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes, Spa4Diabetes works with spas to implement diabetes wellness programmes. Candy was motivated to start the organization after both her parents were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Find out more from Candy Silvasy at candace@artofthespa.com or www.spa4diabetes.com.

World Diabetes Day merchandise available now

Official World Diabetes Day merchandise is available from the International Diabetes Federation’s online shop. Visit the shop and support the campaign by purchasing WDD candles, WDD flags in English, French and Spanish, WDD Frisbees and blue circle pins. For any order of more than 1000 pins, we can brand the accompanying leaflet with a logo of your choice. IDF Member associations receive merchandise at discounted prices.