The world went blue for diabetes

On 14 November, millions once again united around the world to produce a powerful display of advocacy and awareness for the 366 million people currently living with diabetes and the many more at risk, firmly promoting the message that action on diabetes is required NOW.

A debt of gratitude is owed to the more than 200 member associations of the International Diabetes Federation in over 160 countries and the thousands of other dedicated organizations and individuals that organised events and joined together to make the day a special one.

The pictures and reports that we have received and which continue to come in tell the story of a remarkable shared experience, the global diabetes community uniting around the blue circle - the global symbol of diabetes - and going blue for diabetes. Here are some of the highlights:

• Over 700 blue lightings in 62 countries
• 56 diabetes flash mobs in 51 cities in 27 countries
• Over 500 events and activities from more than 100 countries registered on the World Diabetes Day website
• Over 1,800 pictures submitted in the World Diabetes Day pool on Flickr
• Over 16,500 fans on Facebook
• Over 5,300 followers on Twitter
• Over 2,000 people have included the blue circle picbadge on their Facebook or Twitter profile picture
• ‘Día Mundial de la Diabetes’ was a global trending topic on Twitter on 14 November
• Over 1.5 million page views on www.worlddiabetesday.org

See how the global diabetes community went blue for diabetes on 14 November:

• Visit the World Diabetes Day Flickr gallery
• View World Diabetes Day awareness videos from around the world.
• View videos of some of the diabetes flash mobs that were performed around the world. If you performed a Flash Mob and don't see your video, send it to us at wdd@idf.org.

Please continue to send your pictures, event information and videos to wdd@idf.org.

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What did you think of the campaign?

The success of World Diabetes Day depends on your hard work, inspiration and commitment. Did you like our messages this year? Were you satisfied with our materials and calls to action? Do you have a great idea for World Diabetes Day 2012?

Help us improve the campaign by taking our World Diabetes Day survey and letting us know what you think about the work that we do, and how we could do it better. Your feedback is essential.

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Meet us at the World Diabetes Congress

The World Diabetes Congress in Dubai which starts on 4 December, will mark the end of a busy but highly successful year for the global diabetes community, and offer the opportunity to build on the achievements of the United Nations Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and World Diabetes Day.

Over 13,000 delegates from all over the world will gather to share knowledge and experiences to tackle the diabetes epidemic and enhance the lives of people living with the disease. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) invites all of you who will be attending the Congress to visit the IDF Stand (J38) in the Exhibition Hall, where all the efforts and activities that make World Diabetes Day so special will be showcased.

We look forward to seeing you in Dubai!

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For the past six months, this newsletter has been going out in five languages to an ever increasing distribution list, currently amounting to over 27,000 people. We would like to give a special thanks to Marise Ferreira Zappa and Diabetes-Zentrale.de for volunteering their services to ensure that our newsletter is available in Portuguese and German.

The next World Diabetes Day newsletter will appear in May 2012. If you are an experienced translator and would like to volunteer your services to help us reach out in new languages, please contact us at wdd@idf.org.

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