THE POWER OF YOUTH
Many challenges are threatening the health and wellbeing of the youth; diabetes is one of them. The European Region has the highest number of children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes (296,500 cases in young people aged 0-19), with more than 30,000 new cases emerging every year.
The COVID-19 outbreak has created new challenges for young generations. We, at IDF Europe, believe that it is time to speak up to ensure that their message is heard loud and clear. We pride ourselves on our mission to raise the voice of all people living with diabetes (PwD) across Europe; in particular, we need to ensure that young PwD’s needs are met, because if their future is at stake, then everyone’s is.
We need to work together to guarantee a more youth-friendly Europe that leaves no one behind. The young leaders of today will also be the leaders of tomorrow; empowered, they will contribute to the creation of a better world for everyone.
IDF Europe is committed to giving a voice to the youth. What about you?
IDF Europe 2021 Youth Leadership Lab
We are thrilled to announce that the opening session of the Youth Leadership Lab 2021 took place on Monday, June 21. The YLL, IDF Europe’s online-based leadership development programme designed for young PwD, consists of six modules that will alternate between webinars with the participation of expert guest speakers and fellow diabetes advocates, e-learning sessions, and group discussions/exercises on the basis of a ‘learning-by-doing’ approach. The YLL 2021 will take place over a period of 4 months and will end on November 21, 2021. Within the training period, we want to build a strong community by facilitating several social activities, from casual conversations to online Zumba sessions, board games, and movie nights, to create a community where young advocates get to know each other, share experiences, and start collaborating.
We wish to thank IDF Europe Regional Chair, Dr. Niti Pall and Prof. Nebojsa Lalic, IDF Europe Chair-Elect, who together with our partners Maurizio Guidi, Diabetes External Engagement Leader at Lilly Diabetes Corporate Affairs, Miray Kaymaz from Medtronic Diabetes EMEA, and Anne-Marie Felton, President of the Foundation of European Nurses in Diabetes, highlighted the challenges that young people have to face today, and shared their hope to see the eLab participants become active advocates and the diabetes leaders of tomorrow. A big thank you also to Kyle J. Rose and Cajsa Lindberg, for the inspirational talks about their journey to diabetes advocacy and for their enthusiastic and continuous support.
We look forward to seeing our participants again and to sharing this wonderful new experience with them!
Read more about the YLL opening session here.
IDF Europe’s participation in ATTD
Maartje Roskams, Youth Coordinator at IDF Europe, joined the 14th conference for Advanced Technologies & Treatments in Diabetes (ATTD) from June 2nd - 5th with her Dedoc°voices (an international network of diabetes advocates) scholarship. ATTD is a four-day programme that consists of lectures and seminars on advanced technologies and treatments for diabetes. Many PwD in Europe have had the privilege of being able to avail themselves of the latest scientific advances and innovative technologies in the field of diabetes care over the years. However, the challenges that PwD face with regards to managing their condition on a daily basis can still be overwhelming, and this is something Maartje can attest to. Therefore, new innovations designed to relieve this burden are always welcomed by the diabetes community and ATTD provides a platform for PwD to learn about the latest developments.
Also during DocDay, Ines Jakopanec, former Youth Leadership Lab (YLL) participant and current YLL project promoter, shared her passion for ensuring that people living with diabetes can play sports like anybody else. This led to her applying for funding from the EU Erasmus+ programme for a project that aims to tackle the barriers to children and adolescents playing sports at school and in clubs. The Sports & Diabetes Project involves five European sports clubs and IDF Europe. To learn more about the project, click here.
IDF EUROPE NEWS, ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
The Diabetes Community Loses a Passionate Advocate in Alojz Rudolf
It is with great sadness that we learned that Alojz Rudolf passed away on Saturday, June 18, 2021.
Alojz Rudolf was IDF Europe Treasurer from 2009-2015 and was re-elected as IDF Europe Board Member in December 2019, supporting IDF Europe through his in-depth financial and diabetes expertise. During all these years, his personal diabetes experience and his genuine passion to advocate for change were an inspiration for all of us including the young diabetes advocates, whom he cherished deeply and supported through his active role on the IDF Europe Youth Committee.
At IDF Europe, we will remember him as an exceptional diabetes advocate and a close friend. We will forever be thankful for his support. On behalf of the European diabetes community, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to his family as well as to all the colleagues and volunteers of the Slovenian Diabetes Association in this time of grief.
SAVE THE DATE! IDF Europe Symposium at EASD, Monday, 27th September from 14:30h – 15:45h
Today, digitalisation is transforming diabetes care, perhaps more rapidly than any other therapeutic area. An ever-increasing amount of health data is becoming available including data from electronic medical records, clinical trials, medical devices, apps, etc. The use of data is reshaping diabetes prevention and care. It is transforming the relationship between people living with diabetes (PwD) and healthcare professionals (HCPs). It has the potential to improve health outcomes, accelerate research and inform policymaking. However, the use and sharing of data can give rise to challenges and ethical questions, regarding, for example, data access, privacy, and ownership.
During the IDF Europe Symposium at EASD, a panel comprised of PwD, HCPs and representatives from academia, industry and health authorities will discuss the rationale and prerequisites for data sharing and use. They will explore how divergent interests can, at times, converge to promote PwD engagement and drive holistic changes that benefit PwD and other stakeholders.
MEMBER NEWS
Turkish Diabetes Foundation "Turkiye Diyabet Vakfi" Hosts National Diabetes Congress 2021
The theme of the National Diabetes Congress 2021 that was held between June 1 and 5 in Bodrum, Turkey was the ‘100th-Year Anniversary of the Insulin Discovery’. “Diabetes and Insulin at its 100th Anniversary” was the title of the opening session. Key speakers included Prof. Andrew Boulton, Prof. Gary Lewis, and Prof. Şehnaz Karadeniz. Pictures marking key milestones of the century-long journey lined the walkway up to the congress halls, and a photo corner was arranged to celebrate the Congress and remember the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin. In addition, a social media event took place on June 4. People were invited to share their photos with a handwritten message about insulin with the hashtag #insulinhayatkurtarır (meaning “insulin saves life”), and more than 1000 images were shared using the hashtag.
To read more about the event and to see the pictures, click here.
IDF EUROPE ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATIONS WORK
Diabetes: A Poster Child for the EU Digital Health Agenda
Digitalisation is transforming all aspects of diabetes care, more and faster than any other therapeutic area. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven solutions are now opening the way for personalised diabetes care: connected devices such as continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), automated insulin delivery (AID) devices (also called artificial pancreas systems) and smart pens offer many opportunities for PwD and their healthcare providers. But to deliver on the digital promises, health policies need to engage people with diabetes at all levels, improve health literacy and digital skills and promote equitable access to diabetes technologies.
To discover why AI can be a real game-changer, read IDF Europe’s piece on the European Public Health Alliance newsletter.
Council and Parliament Strike an Informal Deal on Health Technology Assessment
On June 22, 2021, the Council and the European Parliament announced that an informal deal on a legislative proposal concerning health technology assessment (HTA) had been reached. EU-level cooperation in assessing the effectiveness of new health technologies will enhance PwD’s access to medicinal products and medical devices and will simplify the submission procedure for producers of health technologies. While IDF Europe welcomes the decision on the implementation period of five years, we regret that Member States (MS) will only give ‘due consideration’ to joint clinical assessments rather than be obliged to use them in their national procedures. IDF Europe also reiterates its strong belief that meaningful engagement of civil society and patient organisations in all decision-making processes is a pre-requisite for an improved HTA framework.
Click here to read our full article.
Don’t Miss the Deadline to Respond to the Public Consultation on the European Health Data Space on July 26, 2021
Large data spaces and knowledge ecosystems hold significant potential to improve healthcare delivery, respond to unmet patient needs and reduce inequalities within and across Member States. Hence, it is crucial that all stakeholders within the diabetes community contribute to the European Health Data Space (EHDS) public consultation organised by the European Commission (EC) and express their views on how to best promote the exchange of, and access to, different types of health data to support healthcare delivery as well as research and informed policymaking. The deadline to submit your feedback is 26 July 2021. Stakeholders’ views will be taken into account in the EC’s design of an EU legal framework for the EHDS. A legislative proposal by the EC is expected to be published either in Q4 2021 or Q1 2022.
Read more on IDF Europe’s position here.
European Parliament to have its final say on the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe in November 2021
On 26 May 2021, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) in the European Parliament held a debate on their draft report regarding a Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe. The final Parliament vote on the Strategy is currently planned for November 2021.
The pharmaceutical strategy for Europe is a major initiative under the European Health Union adopted by the Commission in November 2020. The policy aims to give the European pharmaceutical sector a long-term vision, making it more sustainable and crisis resilient. For people living with diabetes (PwD) and other chronic conditions, the revised pharmaceutical policy holds great potential to better respond to their unmet therapeutic needs in the future. A prerequisite to ensuring optimal health outcomes for PwD and many other conditions is to guarantee uninterrupted access to the required, affordable medicines (and care) throughout their life course.
Read more here.
MMD ACTIVITIES
We are delighted to announce that MEP Alessandra Moretti (S&D, Italy) is the latest MEP to join the MEPs Mobilising for Diabetes Interest Group in the Parliament. Ms Moretti is a committed supporter of a European Health Union and believes that Europe needs to do more as no individual country has the capacity to respond effectively to the multiple and cross-sectoral public health challenges of today. Ms Moretti believes that patients should be placed at the centre of all decision-making. In her capacity as Parliament’s shadow rapporteur of the ‘Shortage of medicines - how to address an emerging problem’, Ms Moretti underlines: ‘The protection of patients’ rights, and their opportunity to be treated promptly and adequately when needed, will have to be included in a broader and more comprehensive strategy’.
We are delighted to benefit from Ms Moretti’s passion for addressing inequalities in access to medicines and treatments, treating the patient as an equal stakeholder at all stages as well as enhancing the role of research and innovation, to reverse the tide on the growing diabetes epidemic in the EU, improve the lives of 32 million Europeans living with diabetes today and reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
OPEN CALLS
DCB Open Innovation Challenge
In the last few years, enormous progress has been made in the field of diabetes technology and this has greatly improved the lives of people living with the condition. However, there is still a great demand for innovative technology solutions. DCB is a private, independent Swiss foundation, established in 2017 with the purpose of translating ideas into tangible solutions and making life with diabetes easier. If you are a start-up, healthcare professional, researcher or individual with an idea or insight into how to improve life with diabetes, join this open call for ideas! You can be part of the diabetes technology innovation movement and make a lasting impact on the community!
Lilly Diabetes Launch ‘Leonard Award’ to Celebrate the Centenary of the Discovery of Insulin
Inspired by the life of Leonard Thompson, Lilly Diabetes has launched the Leonard Award to ‘recognize diverse champions around the world dedicated to advancing diabetes management through innovative thinking and novel approaches.’ Through the Leonard Award, Lilly will also donate $100,000 to Life for a Child in recognition of the five Award winners. The call for nominations and submissions is now open and will remain so until August 31, 2021.
Read more about the Leonard Award here.
EU FUNDED PROJECTS
The Recognised Project Holds General Assembly Meeting on June 21st
On June 21, 2021, the 21 partners of the Recognised consortium gathered online for the project’s General Assembly meeting. Nine European countries were represented by various organisations including academic and public institutions, enterprises and patient organisations including IDF Europe. The meeting was an exciting opportunity for project partners to present their work to date across the different work packages, and notably the progress made in the clinical studies and scientific research.
IDF Europe is involved in the project’s dissemination and communication activities. A project website has been set up to outline Recognised’s main objectives as well as provide information on recently released results and presentations. Interviews with work package leaders and people living with diabetes are under way and will also be available on the website over the next few months.
Recognised is a four-year research project receiving funding from the European Commission's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 847749.
We are hiring!
We are looking for a new communications intern to join our team! We are offering a 6-month paid internship located in Brussels. The deadline for applications is July 31st and all interested candidates should email their CV and cover letter to us at idfeurope@idf-europe.org. Read more about the position here.
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