COUNTDOWN TO WORLD DIABETES DAY - 30 DAYS TO GO

Go Blue for Diabetes

On this special year for diabetes make sure to go blue for diabetes and show your support for the diabetes cause on World Diabetes Day. Here's some inspiration:

• Blue Fridays: an initiative launched in the USA by diabetes advocate Cherise Shockley and aimed at drawing attention to World Diabetes Day and the millions of people living with diabetes around the world.  The principle is simple: everyone should wear blue on each Friday during the Month of November and on the 14th. Show your support for Cherise and help spread the word.
   
• Flash mob for diabetes: are you ready to take up this challenge?  With your family and friends get prepared to organise a diabetes flash mob. A flash mob is a group who organize themselves, using electronic media such as cell phones or the Internet, to gather together in a public place, behave in a predetermined manner for a predefined amount of time, and then quickly disperse.
  
  Help us make this a coordinated global celebration by getting your friends, families and colleagues together on 13 or 14 November and organising a special World Diabetes Day performance in a local square, commercial centre or other public place in your area. We invite you to use the blue circle as the theme of your performance and dress in blue for the occasion. Make sure to have someone on hand to film the event and share the video with us. Find out more and register your flash mob.
   
• World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange: diabetes blogger and art therapist Lee Ann Thill looks for creative and meaningful ways to celebrate World Diabetes Day. This year she has launched the World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange to connect people with diabetes around the world and spread diabetes love from one mailbox to another. The concept is straightforward: you receive an address, make and send a postcard and get a postcard for World Diabetes Day. Here's what to do:
  
  1) Send your address to leeann@thebuttercompartment.com
  2) Receive the address of your postcard recipient.
  3) Use the blue circle and all the creativity you can fit on a piece of 3.5" x 5" card to create a postcard.
  4) Send your postcard before 14 November
  5) Receive a handmade postcard from someone living with diabetes!
  
  Find out more.
   
• Bring Diabetes to Light: help us pass last year's total of 922 monuments and buildings in 84 countries that lit in blue for diabetes for World Diabetes Day. View the current list and send your confirmed lighting to wdd@idf.org. If you can't light a monument, just place a blue light in your home school or workplace to show your support for the diabetes cause.

View a promotional message from IDF President Jean Claude Mbanya.

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Support the Rights and Responsibilities of People with Diabetes

Since the launch of the 2011 campaign, we have been encouraging you to promote the IDF International Charter on the Rights and Responsibilities of People with Diabetes as part of your World Diabetes Day celebrations. The Charter acknowledges that people with diabetes can play an essential part in confronting the diabetes epidemic if they have the rights and opportunities to act as equal partners with health care providers and governments. In many countries, thanks to the efforts of member associations of the International Diabetes Federation and other diabetes organisations, the contents of the Charter have been disseminated through local government and the health and medical community and, in some cases, official proclamations have been issued in support of the principles laid down in the document.

We encourage you to achieve the same in your area and use World Diabetes Day as a platform to promote the Charter's vision of eliminating the barriers to people with diabetes realising their full potential as members of society. The document is available to download in 6 languages and print copies can be requested in English, French and Spanish from wdd@idf.org.

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Activity spotlight

A further look at activities around the world to mark World Diabetes Day 2011:

• In Albania, the Albanian Diabetes Association has planned a Diabetes Week on 12-19 November. Events and activities include diabetes awareness broadcasts on local and national TV stations, the 3rd Diabetes Hall in one of the biggest business centres in Tirana with diabetes screenings, lectures and the promotion of healthy food and living; and a mini-marathon and cycling event on one of Tirana’s main roads. On 19 November, the National Conference on Diabetes will be held, the theme of which is "Reflection on the diabetes situation in Albania. Progress and changes since 2005."
   
• In Cameroon, the Association 'Le Train du Coeur' is organising three days of screenings for diabetes and its complications in the city of Douala on 9-11 November. Workshops on diabetes education, a healthy diet and the importance of physical activity in the prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease will also take place. On 14 November, the association will coordinate an awareness walk with over 500 participants expected.
   
• In Malaysia, SSL Diabetes Care Centre will attempt to create a Human Blue Circle to mark World Diabetes Day 2011. They hope to gather the local community to support people with diabetes and convey the importance of awareness, prevention and control of diabetes. The event will begin with a warm-up session followed by the formation of the Circle. Lots of free gifts will be given out such as brown rice, artificial sweetener, low-fat milk packets, nutritious drinks and light refreshments. There will also be an educational corner for participants to know more about diabetes and HAVE FUN!

View information about all the activities that we have received  and submit your own details.

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Follow the campaign

• Facebook: share your events and activities
• Twitter: use the following hashtags to post all your WDD and diabetes-related messages: #WDD #Diabetes #ActNow #BlueCircle #WDDgoblue #14Nov.
• YouTube

Raise awareness about diabetes by adding the blue circle to your profile picture on Facebook and/or Twitter.  Follow the easy steps to add the blue circle to your picture.

• Download our World Diabetes Day materials.
• Order our World Diabetes Day materials.

Coming soon: Glycaemic Index Wheel and Healthy Food Plate, an offline and online information tool aimed at helping people with diabetes understand how various carbohydrate foods can affect their blood glucose levels.

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