World Diabetes Day - 14 Days Later

From Abu Dhabi to Zanzibar the world once again came together on 14 November to mark World Diabetes Day. In a powerful of display of unity around a shared cause, millions have been going blue for diabetes throughout the month of November, raising awareness of the ever-increasing threat posed by the diabetes pandemic and working to improve the lives of the 382 million people currently living with diabetes.

The International Diabetes Federation marked World Diabetes Day by launching the 6th edition of the IDF Diabetes Atlas. The latest research shows that one in ten of the world’s population will have diabetes by 2035, surging to a total of 592 million, many in low and middle income countries and the majority under 60 years of age.

This surge will form the backdrop of the World Diabetes Congress (#WDC2013) in Melbourne, Australia, starting on 2 December. It must place diabetes very high on the agenda of health ministers throughout the world.

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. Here are some of the initial results:

• Over 700 personalities pinned with the blue circle
• Blue lightings in more than 60 countries
• More than 460 million steps submitted by over 660 individuals and groups at http://steps.worlddiabetesday.org. 
• 857 supporters for  the WDD Thunderclap campaign, resulting in a social reach of more than 1,2 million people for our WDD message on November 14
• Over 4,500 people have included the blue circle picbadge on their Facebook or Twitter profile picture
• #WDD and #diamundialdeladiabetes trending topics on Twitter on 14 November
• 33,000 followers on Facebook
• Over 16,000 followers on Twitter
• Over 60,000 blue circle pins distributed
• The IDF website received a record number of visits and pageviews on November 14.

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

• Visit the World Diabetes Day Flickr gallery
• View World Diabetes Day videos from around the world
• View global media coverage of the day
• View our global events map to see activities organised around the world

Please continue to:

• Add your pictures to our Flickr gallery or send them to wdd@idf.org.
• Submit your activity information online or send it to wdd@idf.org.
• Take a step for diabetes by submitting your steps at http://steps.worlddiabetesday.org
• Send us your pictures of personalities pinned with the blue circle.
• Share your videos with us by sending them 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? 

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 very important.

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Over the last six months, this newsletter has been sent out in six languages to an ever increasing distribution list. We would like to give a special thanks to Jumana Al Khandari, Katharina Kramer and Marise Ferreira Zappa for volunteering their services to make the newsletter available in Arabic, German and Portuguese.

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