10 days to World Diabetes Day!

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A campaign led by the International Diabetes Federation

Diabetes awareness month has begun

In many parts of the world, the beginning of November marks the start of a month-long series of activities aimed at raising diabetes awareness and calling for urgent action to tackle the diabetes epidemic. Here's a reminder of why urgent action is required to protect our future:

There are currently 366 million people living with diabetes. This figure is set to rise to over 550 million by 2030.
Diabetes is responsible for 4.6 million deaths a year - 1 every 7 seconds.
Diabetes is among the top 10 causes of disability, resulting in life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, lower limb amputations and blindness.
50% of people with diabetes are undiagnosed.
80% of people with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries.

View all our campaign messages to help inform your awareness activities in the days and weeks to come. Together we can make a difference!

Go Blue for Diabetes!

The world has started to go blue for diabetes! Here's how you can show your support:

Shine a blue light for diabetes: Austria, Bhutan and New Zealand are the latest countries to confirm their participation in this year's Blue Monument Challenge. See the latest list of confirmed lightings and keep on posting your confirmations online or send them to wdd@idf.org. If you have a building that's already going blue, take a picture and add it to our Flicker pool.
Organise a Flash Mob: Davangere and Hyderabad, India and Loreto, Peru are the latest cities to join the World Diabetes Day Flash Mob Challenge. Find out what it's all about and watch our tutorial video for tips on what you can perform to promote the diabetes cause in your area.
Pin a Personality: get that blue circle pinned on a personality or celebrity in your area! Our online gallery is almost 300-strong. Keep sending us your pictures!
Take the Big Blue Test: help get life-saving supplies to people with diabetes in need by doing 14 to 20 minutes of exercise this November. Find out how.
Form a human blue circle: get together with your friends, family and colleagues and help promote the global symbol of the fight against diabetes. View some examples to get inspired.
Blue Fridays: don't forget to wear blue for the diabetes cause every Friday in November and especially on World Diabetes Day!

A global tour of planned activities

With less than 10 days left to 14 November here are some more highlights of planned activities around the world:

In Albania, the Albanian Diabetes Association is organising several activities during the whole month of November. These include a series of talk shows and TV programmes on local and national TV, the launch of training programmes for nurses and pharmacists, a diabetes exhibition involving nutritionists and chefs from well-known restaurants who will advise on healthy foods and prepare recipes for participants, and a press conference involving young people with diabetes, members of the association. On 17 November, the National Conference "Diabetes 2012" will be held in Tirana in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Regional Health Authority.
In Barbados, the highlight of the Diabetes Association of Barbados's World Diabetes Day and Diabetes Awareness Month activities will be the Diabetes Global Village Expo, a two-day event which aims to inform the general public, people with diabetes and health professionals about the disease. The event's diverse programme includes a Tradeshow Area, a diverse fitness programme, a farmer's market, healthy dish competition, medical symposium and people's forum. Other planned activities of the association include a Blue Circle Drive throughout the island during which blue circle pins will be presented to the principals of primary and secondary schools and a World Diabetes Day Concert featuring The Royal Barbados Police Force Band.
In Csetény, Hungary, the Ármin Vámbéry Primary School is celebrating World Diabetes Day on 10 November. All students and teachers will have access to free blood glucose tests on the day and the children will be engaged in a variety of activities in connection with healthy living, such as making posters about healthy eating, making fruit salad, doing different kinds of sport, games and puzzles. As part of the ‘Pin a personality’ campaign, all teachers will wear the blue circle pin at school and will be joined by the local GP, pharmacist, hairdresser and shopkeeper. At the end of the day, the school will form a blue circle.
In Egypt, a touring campaign of 6 social events in 5 different governorates (Cairo, Mansoura, Ismailia, Alexanderia, Menia) will be held to mark World Diabetes Day. The outdoor events will include marathon races, music, giveaways for children, puppet shows, blood glucose tests and educational lectures.
In Itabuna, Brazil, a Multidisciplinary Diabetes Fair open to the public will be held with more than 20 booths and educational services, including blood glucose and blood pressure tests, a nutrition workshop, physical education and psychological counselling. There will also be a public celebration of World Diabetes Day on stage with representatives of local and national associations and the Secretary of Health of the State of Bahia, Itabuna Prefecture, among other authorities and representatives of civil society. The event will be broadcast live over 2 hours on TV RecordNews, which covers the entire Northeast of the country.
In Los Alamitos, California, USA, the Original Fish Company is having a fundraiser/awareness event at their restaurant. For the whole month of November they are displaying a street banner promoting World Diabetes Day and attaching tags to their giveaway taffy, showcasing a person with type 1 diabetes and information about World Diabetes Day. They will also stream videos on all their restaurant TVs sharing information about diabetes and stories of what it is like to live with the condition.
In Yemen, the Yemen Diabetes Association will be visiting more than 14 secondary schools in Sana'a to hold lectures to students and teachers during the morning Assembly about diabetes prevention and how to deal with it. During the visits the Association will also establish schools groups for diabetes prevention and emergency management.

Visit our online events calendar to get a glimpse of more activities that are taking place this November. Please continue to submit your event information, either online or by email to wdd@idf.org.

Hero spotlight: Mila Ferrer

Mila Ferrer from Puerto Rico is our latest World Diabetes Day hero. A mother of three children, including Jaime who has type 1 diabetes, Mila has a blog called “Jaime, Mi Dulce Guerrero" (Jaime, My Sweet Warrior) in which she writes about the personal experience of a family raising a child with type 1 diabetes. Every day through her blog, Mila tries to educate families about diabetes, showing how you can live a normal life and informing on the causes and complications of diabetes and how to prevent them. Mila has a great sense of responsibility towards her children and Puerto Rican families which she has shown through her work.

Read about all our heroes.