World Health Day: “My health, my right”
April 7 marked World Health Day, with the theme "My health, my right". This year's theme drew attention to the gap between countries' commitment to recognise health as a human right and the fact that, in reality, inequalities in access to health services still persist.
For people living with diabetes (PwD), realising their right to health requires them to gain access to early diagnosis and to the right treatment at the right time, including uninterrupted access to medicines, supplies, tools and technologies as well as self-management education, psychological support and adequate screening for complications.
Inequalities in health outcomes among PwD are often rooted in the social determinants of health. Factors such as low income, poor housing, limited education, food insecurity and social exclusion can significantly affect people's ability to adopt health-enhancing practices and to access health services, resources and support systems.
Addressing health inequalities requires adopting a "health-in-all-policies" approach that tackles the environmental, cultural and socio-economic determinants of health and foster health-enabling environments. Providing integrated, person-centred care by placing people at the centre of their care is also crucial to supporting them manage their condition effectively, setting priorities and making informed decisions to improve their wellbeing. Empowering and engaging PwD should also extend to everything that affects them, from participation in research and clinical trials to advocacy initiatives aimed at influencing policies that directly or indirectly have an impact on them.
Listening to people with lived experience and developing solutions based on their real needs and preferences is key to designing effective strategies to advance diabetes prevention, management and care, and reduce its burden on people, society and health systems. This is why, on May 13, we will launch an awareness campaign encouraging individuals and organisations to endorse the IDF Europe-WHO Europe Declaration on diabetes and share their personal reasons for endorsing it. The campaign aims to showcase the improvements that our community would like to see in their respective countries with regard to access to diabetes prevention, management and care. By doing so, we want to remind policymakers of the real-world impact of their decisions and the urgent need for more meaningful action on diabetes.
Would you like to join us? Begin by endorsing the Declaration and stay connected on social media to discover more on May 13!
IDF EUROPE YOUTH PLATFORM
Applications for the IDF Europe Youth Leadership Lab 2024 are now closed
The applications for the IDF Europe Youth Leadership Lab (YLL) 2024 are now closed. We wish to thank everyone who applied as well as our Member Associations and all those who shared news about the YLL with their network. We received many excellent applications, and we will inform the selected participants of the results over the next few weeks.
We are looking forward to meeting all of you soon!
MEMBER NEWS
Save the date: IDF Europe Regional Council 2024
We are delighted to announce that the IDF Europe Regional Council 2024 will take place in Rome, Italy, on October 12-13.
Each year, the Regional Council represents a great opportunity to meet all our Member Associations in person, provide a review of our priority projects and programmes, discuss financial matters and strengthen our network across Europe.
Stay tuned! More information about the Regional Council will be shared with our Member Associations before the summer.
We look forward to meeting all our Members in Rome next October!
IDF Europe Communications Toolkit for Member Associations
IDF Europe released a Toolkit for its Member Associations which aims to provide background information on the Resolution on Diabetes adopted in 2022 by the European Parliament, the Declaration co-signed by IDF Europe and WHO Europe at the High-Level Technical Summit on Diabetes last November, and the Pledge on Diabetes developed with other European Diabetes Forum (EUDF) Members. The Toolkit suggests ways of leveraging these documents for policy action at national level. It includes:
- An overview of the scope and the content of the Resolution/Declaration/Pledge
- IDF Europe’s call to action throughout 2024
- A timeline of key initiatives from November 2023 to June 2024
- Strategies to get involved and support IDF Europe’s Campaign around the Declaration
- Strategies to embed the Resolution/Declaration/Pledge in national advocacy
- Resources and key messages to support advocacy and communications activities
- Social media strategies and posts to raise awareness of diabetes and promote the calls made in the Resolution/Declaration/Pledge
- Template letters for reaching out to national diabetes stakeholders and policymakers
National diabetes associations play a key role in driving change by raising awareness of diabetes and holding national, regional and local governments to account for their commitments on diabetes. The Resolution, Declaration and Pledge can only be impactful if governments are aware of their recommendations and calls to action. Achieving real impact requires the diabetes community to work together across all political levels. We trust that the Toolkit will help coordinate our efforts and those of our Member Associations to achieve positive change across the entire Europe Region.
To request the Toolkit, please contact sabine.dupont@idf-europe.org and martina.boccardo@idf-europe.org.
Revealing the economic toll of diabetes complications: insights from a Slovenian health economics study
On April 4, the Slovenian Diabetes Association organised a roundtable event to present the results of a health economics study, analysing direct expenditure associated with diabetes care.
The study, based on data collected from the Institute of Health Insurance of Slovenia over 2019-2022, indicated that more than half the annual direct costs are attributable to the treatment of diabetes-related complications.
According to the study, the cost of diabetes treatment without complications amounts to €520 per person. However, when complications arise, costs escalate significantly, ranging from an additional €277 per person for eye complications to €4,385 per person for kidney complications. Researchers forecast a 19.2% increase in diabetes-related expenditure as a percentage of GDP by 2030, a trend anticipated to persist until 2050.
To address this, the recommended key policy actions include the need to promote healthy lifestyles across all age groups, bolster diabetes prevention and early detection programmes, and empower PwD.
IDF Europe at the Romanian Diabetes Forum 5th anniversary conference
On April 9, the Romanian Diabetes Forum (Forumul Român de Diabet) held a conference to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
The Forum was founded in 2019 by IDF Europe’s Members, the Romanian Society of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases and the Romanian Federation of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, and is the first multi-stakeholder collaboration platform on diabetes in the country. It gathers associations representing PwD, medical societies, industry representatives and other stakeholders.
During the conference, IDF Europe Regional Chair, Prof. Nebojša M. Lalić presented IDF Europe’s recent policy and advocacy activities, with a focus on the upcoming EU Elections. IDF Europe strongly values any opportunity for collaboration with its Member Associations. The Romanian Diabetes Forum is an excellent example of effective collaboration between multiple stakeholders to improve the lives of PwD and those at risk.
European Parliament event: “Promoting and accelerating the shift towards plant-based diets for a healthier Europe: the diabetes case”
IDF Europe, the Portuguese Diabetes Association (APDP) and the French Diabetes Federation (FFD) have been collaborating on the 18-month project “Eat Better, Live Better”, supported by the international movement “Healthy Food Healthy Planet”.
The initiative aims to explore and promote the role of plant-based diets in managing diabetes through sustainable and healthy diets.
On April 18, project partners organised an event at the European Parliament hosted by MEP Francisco Guerreiro, “Promoting and accelerating the shift towards plant-based diets for a healthier Europe: the diabetes case”, during which the initiative’s key insights and recommendations to support a shift towards plant-based diets and a healthier Europe were presented.
Various speakers - healthcare professionals (HCPs), PwD, policymakers and food experts - shared their perspectives on the role of plant-based food in diabetes prevention and management, and discussed the key barriers and enablers to improving the adoption of plant-based diets.
Collaboration between German-speaking diabetes associations: "Lake Constance demands" and cycling tour
Ahead of the upcoming EU elections, German-speaking diabetes associations from Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and South Tirol have put together a set of demands to improve the lives of PwD in their respective countries, the “Lake Constance demands”.
Their demands include aligning of diabetes care with the latest scientific evidence, ensuring access to outpatient and inpatient care close to home and guaranteeing optimal medical care throughout the life course, including in nursing and retirement homes, and expanding the availability of telemedicine options for those who would benefit from them. They also emphasise the need for healthy food choices in schools and advertising restrictions on foods and drinks which are high in sugar, especially when targeted at children.
To promote the initiatives, representatives of the associations will take part in a cycling tour around the Lake of Constance on June 7-9, starting in the city of Bregenz, Austria.
IDF EUROPE NEWS, ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
Save the date – IDF Europe symposium at EASD: “Personalisation of care – the way forward”
During the 60th EASD Annual Meeting on September 9-13, IDF Europe will hold a symposium: "Personalisation of care - the way forward".
Chaired by Prof. João Raposo, Medical Director at APDP, Diabetes Portugal and IDF Europe Board Member, the event will feature the perspectives of PwD on what personalisation of care really means to them and what is needed to drive it and a multidisciplinary panel of HCPs who will engage in a conversation on the importance of getting to know healthcare system users and how to make a science of it. Will also be addressed during the event potential approaches to the transformation and standardisation of healthcare systems as well as the main policy barriers and enablers to ensure optimum care personalisation.
The Symposium, supported by Air Liquide Healthcare, will take place on September 12, from 11:30-13:00 CEST, at the Retiro Hall, IFEMA Convention Center – Feria de Madrid.
Please note that you need to be registered for the EASD Annual Meeting to be able to attend our Symposium.
Check out the report of our first T2D platform meeting
In 2022, IDF Europe launched a platform of people living with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) interested in representing the voice of PwD in advocacy initiatives as well as through participation in other projects.
On March 16-17, IDF Europe held a meeting in Brussels with the current members of the platform and other people living with T2D interested in joining the community. Some 35 people from all over Europe and all walks of life joined the event and showed great enthusiasm for the opportunity to engage and share their personal experiences with people living with the same condition.
The T2D Summit was the first of Its kind and generated inspiring and insightful discussions on the barriers to T2D engagement in advocacy, on the opportunities for creating synergies at national and European levels and on the skills necessary to become strong diabetes advocates.
IDF Europe at the European Parliament event: “Closing the gender health gap”
On April 9, IDF Europe Regional Manager, Elisabeth Dupont, participated in the event hosted by MEP Radka Maxová at the European Parliament – “Closing the Gender Health Gap: Shaping a European Health Sector which Leaves no Woman Behind".
During her presentation, she outlined the various ways in which hormones fluctuations can pose unique challenges to women living with diabetes in managing their condition, often adversely affecting their health outcomes and quality of life.
She also stressed the importance of addressing the unmet medical needs for women living with diabetes and called for more research on diabetes in women and their increased representation in clinical trials to tailor their care to their specific needs.
A health-in-all policies approach is also essential to address the socioeconomic factors that contribute to a higher burden of diabetes and other health conditions in women.
EPF annual meeting
On April 13-14, we attended the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) annual meeting in Brussels. During the first day of the event, we participated in the capacity building workshop “AI Literacy for Patient Advocacy”, which covered topics such as the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in improving patients’ lives, policymakers’ role in regulating AI and the limitations of technology.
Speakers emphasised the importance of representing patients and collaborating with patient organisations to ensure the ethical development and implementation of AI solutions that can effectively address their needs.
Following the discussion, participants took part in the serious game “AI+Hospital”, in which players had to decide which AI technology they would use for providing care to a fictional patient while keeping into consideration both the patient’s and the HCP’s preferences as well as ethical and legal requirements.
IDF Europe strongly values its collaboration with EPF and other organisations dedicated to shaping more person-centred health systems.
IDF Europe Country Profiles: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Germany and Malta
As part of our Centenary of Insulin campaign, we are releasing national factsheets presenting key facts about diabetes care, with the purpose of raising awareness and enabling policymakers to make better decisions when it comes to diabetes care.
This month, we released the country profiles for:
IDF Europe Twinning Programme
As part of our Centenary of Insulin campaign, IDF Europe has been facilitating a dedicated knowledge exchange programme for all our Member Associations.
The objective of the Twinning Programme is to build on national expertise and foster strategic collaboration between Member Associations to grow their capacity. By doing so, one’s strengths are used to support someone else’s needs.
The Twinning Programme consists of one-on-one collaborations between Member Associations and a webinar series on key topics of interest for our Members.
If your association should like to be considered for the Twinning Programme, please contact martina.boccardo@idf-europe.org.
IDF EUROPE ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATION WORK
Highlighting the persisting need for more health equity in diabetes prevention and management
On March 27, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) monthly newsletter featured a guest article from IDF Europe on health equity and diabetes.
The article illustrates the complex relationship between the social determinants of health and diabetes prevalence, highlighting inequalities in access to diabetes prevention and care within our health systems.
Promoting resilient health systems
On April 11, IDF Europe released a video illustrating the role of diabetes as a marker of healthcare systems’ resilience.
The video explains how effective diabetes prevention, management and care play a crucial role in how well healthcare systems can handle crises. They keep PwD and others away from the health system, reduce costs, optimise resource utilization and stimulate the use of digital tools, all of which improve healthcare systems’ resilience.
Last November, IDF Europe and WHO Europe held a High-Level Technical Summit which led to the signing of a Declaration calling on governing bodies to uphold their commitments and accelerate action on diabetes to improve health systems’ resilience and preparedness to crises.
Organisations and individuals, whether they live with diabetes, know someone who does, or would like to stand in solidarity with the community, can endorse the Declaration and become part of a powerful and united voice calling for stronger action on diabetes.
NEWS FROM EUROPE
The European Parliament adopts its position on the EU General Pharmaceutical Legislation
On April 10, the European Parliament adopted its position on the EU General Pharmaceutical Legislation.
This important step holds the promise of improved access to medicines contributing to better health outcomes and quality of life for people living with chronic conditions, including diabetes, and emphasises the importance of involving people with lived experience throughout these medicines’ development process.
The introduction of a new definition of “Unmet Medical Needs” reflects the necessity of taking into account the needs, experiences and challenges of people living with chronic diseases. IDF Europe strongly encourages the Council of the EU to support this inclusive definition and calls for united action from all European policymakers to maintain this momentum in the coming months.
WHO holds its 6th Global Diabetes Compact Forum
On April 15-16, we attended the sixth WHO Global Diabetes Compact Forum meeting.
During the event opening, IDF Europe YOURAH member, Konstantina Boumaki, provided the perspective of a person living with diabetes and shared two key messages:
The integration of psychological support in diabetes care is vital to improving PwD's mental health.
More education and research are required to fill knowledge gaps concerning the menstrual cycle and pregnancy for PwD.
The event represented a great opportunity to hear the perspectives of PwD as well as the various updates from WHO and other Forum members on the initiatives they are undertaking and their progress in improving access to equitable, comprehensive, affordable, quality diabetes treatment and care.
We look forward to continuing to work with WHO and all Forum members on the pressing issues highlighted during the event and in particular on closing the gender health gap.
IDF Europe welcomes the adoption of the European Health Data Space
On April 24, the European Parliament adopted a regulation for the creation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) with a focus on empowering citizens and advancing healthcare research.
EHDS aims to put citizens at the centre of healthcare by giving them control over their data to obtain better healthcare across the EU and to open up data for research and public health uses.
This initiative holds the possibility of significantly improving patient care, including for PwD and is a core component of creating a strong and resilient European Health Union. However, addressing patients’ and HCPs’ digital literacy is crucial for maximising effectiveness and reducing health inequalities.
The regulation is now awaiting formal adoption by the Council of the EU and is expected to be published in autumn 2024, marking a significant step toward a more resilient European Health Union.
WHO Europe released a publication on communication and community engagement in health emergencies
WHO Europe recently published a brochure on the critical importance of risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management during health emergencies. Based on the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other emergencies, the publications build the case for increased investments in community engagement, risk communication and infodemic management to strengthen preparedness, response and resilience, and protect people from health emergencies.
The Insulin On Board 2024 football tournament is returning in June
The sixth edition of the Insulin on Board Cup (IOB Cup) 2024 will take place in Warsaw, Poland, on June 15-16. Every year, this sporting event sees the participation of nearly 500 players living with diabetes from all over Europe across four age categories.
Since its first edition, the IOB Cup has represented a great opportunity for the international diabetes community to come together, have fun and promote the importance of physical activity for PwD.
IDF Europe is honoured to be a patron of the event.
EU-FUNDED PROJECTS
Take the ASSESS DHT survey on telehealth applications for diabetes
IDF Europe is part of the ASSESS DHT project, which aims to boost the adoption of trustworthy and effective Digital Health Technologies across Europe.
As part of the project, the Austrian Institute for Health Technology Assessment (AIHTA) is conducting a survey to map existing models of diabetes care in Europe that make use of telehealth applications allowing for interactions between users and HCPs through apps and/or web-platforms.
Do you know any telehealth tool for diabetes in your country?
DigiCare4You partners attended a school race event in the Zaragoza community
IDF Europe is part of the DigiCare4You Horizon 2020 project which aims to improve the early prevention and management of T2D and hypertension (HTN). As part of the project, an implementation study is being conducted in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Spain.
Last month, one of the schools participating in the project, CEIP Cortes de Aragon, in Zaragoza, Spain, organised a solidarity school race in which all proceeds were donated to the Zaragoza Diabetes Association. Project partners from the University of Zaragoza were invited to attend the event to raise awareness of their research group and the DigiCare4You project.
Natalia Giménez Legarre, DigiCare4You partner from the University of Zaragoza, said, "It is very important that schools and parent associations organise and promote activities that encourage a healthy lifestyle in families with young children. Parents are role models for children, and participating in a joint event as a family helps with this health promotion."
DigiCare4You on World Health Day 2024
On the occasion of World Health Day, DigiCare4You published an article on WHO’s recent launch of S.A.R.A.H., a smart AI resource assistant for health, which functions as a digital health promoter powered by generative AI that is available 24/7 and in eight languages.
This year’s World Health Day theme, “My health, my right”, advocates for the right of everyone, everywhere, to have access to quality health services, information and education. Digital health tools such as S.A.R.A.H. and those developed for DigiCare4You, can play a key role in helping people realise their right to health by supporting access to health education and information regardless of where they live.
DiaPs working group meeting in Barcelona
IDF Europe is part of the Erasmus+ project, Diabetes Digital Peer S(up)port (DiaPS), which aims to develop a digital platform for peer support where PwD can share their experience on managing their condition during sport activities.
On April 26-28, IDF Europe Project Coordinator, Mia Bajramagic, joined the project’s working group meeting hosted by consortium partner, ÀreaQ, in Barcelona. The meeting was designed to explore the findings of a survey conducted with PwD, their carers, coaches and HCPs view a view to guiding the creation of an impactful digital solution to promote social inclusion and equal opportunities.
We are excited to be part of this project and to be able to contribute to PwD’s inclusion in sports!
UPCOMING EVENTS ACROSS EUROPE
77th World Health Assembly
Geneva, May 27-June 1, 2024 |For more information, click here
17th International Primary Care Diabetes Europe Conference (PCDE) – The Changing Paradigm in Primary Care Diabetes Management
Barcelona, June 6-8, 2024 |For more information, click here
2024 European Parliament Elections
June 6-9, 2024 |For more information, click here
Football Tournament “Insulin on Board Cup” (IOB Cup) 2024
Warsaw, June 15-16, 2024 |For more information, click here
IDF Europe Youth Leadership Camp (YLC) 2024
July 7-13, 2024 |For more information, click here
European Network for the Promotion of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) 15th Conference
August 19-21, 2024 |For more information, click here
European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 60th Annual Meeting
Madrid, September 10-13, 2024 |For more information, click here
IDF Europe Regional Council
Rome, October 12-13, 2024 | More information will be available before the summer
International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) 50th Annual Conference
Lisbon, October 16-19, 2024 |For more information, click here
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