IDF side event to the 71st World Health Assembly (May 2018)

On the occasion of the 71st World Health Assembly, IDF held a multi-stakeholder panel discussion “Nutrition education and IDF action to tackle obesity and prevent diabetes” in Geneva on 22 May 2018.

During the event, nutrition experts, government representatives and people living with diabetes discussed how quality nutrition education can be part of the solution to overcome the global health challenges posed by diabetes and obesity.

The event also provided the opportunity to showcase recent developments in the Kids & Diabetes in Schools (KiDS) initiative, a project that aims to foster a safe and supportive environment in schools for children with diabetes, and encourage the adoption of good healthy habits from an early age.

Speakers and panellists included:

• Prof. Nam H. Cho, IDF President
• Dr Francesco Branca, Director of Nutrition for Health and Development, World Health Organization
• Ms Taru Koivisto, Director of Wellbeing and Services, Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
• Dr Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
• Dr Ophra Rebiere, Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sanofi
• Dr Tatjana Milenkovic, President, Macedonian Diabetes Association
• Dr Monika Arora, Health Promotion Director, Public Health Foundation India (PHFI)
• Ms Paula Chinchilla, nutritionist, Mentor of the Young Leaders in Diabetes Programme and member of the Blue Circle Voices (Costa Rica)

Click here to download the event report.

Click here to watch the video of the event (due technical issues, only half of the discussion was recorded).

IDF side event to the 70th World Health Assembly

Access to diabetes care remains inadequate and unaffordable in many countries, making it the leading concern of people living with diabetes.

On the occasion of the 70th World Health Assembly, on 23 May 2017 the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) held "Access to diabetes medicines and care in underserved populations: patient, health worker, government and multilateral perspectives on policy" - a panel discussion in Geneva between people with diabetes and healthcare professionals on priority solutions to overcome national gaps between provision and availability of diabetes care and treatment among underserved populations.

The event highlighted the central role of people with diabetes in all aspects of diabetes management, care and prevention and introduced our new network, the Blue Circle Voices. It also featured the critical perspective of frontline health workers in achieving quality care and optimal health outcomes.

During the event, IDF disseminated the findings of the IDF Members' Survey on Access to Medicines and Supplies for People with Diabetes to inform discussion on what is needed to achieve WHO 2025 targets at national levels.

Speakers and panellists included:

• Prof. Nam Cho, IDF President-Elect
• Dr Etienne Krug, Director of WHO's Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention
• Stela Prgomelja, Vice-President of the Diabetes Association of Serbia, and member of the IDF Blue Circle Voices from Serbia
• Riva Greenberg, diabetes educator, health coach and member of the IDF Blue Circle Voices from the USA
• Vanessa Pirolo, Project Coordinator at the Associação de Diabetes Juvenil, and member of the IDF Blue Circle Voices from Brazil
• Dr Sanele Madela, frontline health worker, Expectra 868 Health Solutions
• Kwanele Asante-Shongwe, Bakken Honoree Medtronic Foundation
• Samalie Kitooleko, Uganda Heart Institute 

Download the Highlights to the IDF Side Event to the 70th World Health Assembly (pdf, 1MB)