Ukranian Diabetes Federation organises Diaeuro 2019

July 07 2019

More than 120 people living with type1 diabetes participated in the DiaEuro 2019, the 8th European Futsal Championship for people living with diabetes, that took place on July 22- 26 in the Sports Complex NUFFS in Ukraine. The contests, organised again this year by the Ukrainian Diabetic Federation (UDF), hosted 10 teams from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Croatia, Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

DiaEuro is much more than football. Created by IDF Europe member, the Ukrainian Diabetic Federation, DiaEuro was first held in Ukraine in 2012 at the same time as the Euro 2012. Since then, it has become an exceptional annual event to raise awareness of diabetes at a national and international level. More than 200 youngsters living with diabetes from all around the European Region gather to engage in a competitive physical activity, network with fellow people living with diabetes and send one powerful message to Europe and beyond: diabetes is not a barrier to sports.

According to the former UDF chair Valentina Ocheretenko, this unique social project is intended to draw the attention of society to the global diabetes problem in Ukraine and in the world and to prevent the disability of people with diabetes.

"I firmly believe that with proper support, education and mentality, type 1 diabetes does not necessarily have to be "a difficult  mountain", but only an additional barrier through which you must jump over. It's like while running through obstacles. This distance - is our life. I consider the DIAEURO project to be the biggest of my achievement. And now you have a group of people who help you implement the project. Special project with special members!” says Valentina Ocheretenko. 

The gathering was not only about futsal! The program also included activities such as walking the city and the "Health Fair" at the closing day,which included the winner awarding ceremony, workshops, competitions, and communication with experts in diabetes, nutrition, and more.

The voice of IDF Europe Chair

July 07 2019

Many things have happened during this second quarter of 2019. Diabetes is much more than a chronic disease affecting around 60 million people in the European Region; it is a health condition that has an impact on all stages of life, affecting not only the people living with it, but also their families and friends.

Prof Dr Şehnaz Karadeniz, Chair of IDF Europe 2019

In the Region, diabetes national plans widely differ from one country to another. To address this situation, it is essential to join forces in order to strengthen efforts, build effective policy and advocacy strategies and reduce diabetes prevalence and its burden in the countries where the situation is most critical and urgent. For this purpose, in the last meeting of the Diabetes Evidence Initiative in Central Europe (DEICE) in Warsaw we decided to establish an expert working group to create a catalogue of best practices from both within and outside some of the Central European countries. This will serve to address barriers and explore opportunities towards generating policy recommendations and establishing strong links between the expert group and members of IDFE’s IMPACT Network of national parliamentarians, who are working to improve diabetes prevention and care. We want to thank Astra Zeneca for their support to the organization of DEICE Meeting.

Working to advocate for people with diabetes and effecting policy changes can only be attained through a new generation to follow up on the progress achieved and tackle the challenges to come. So good news! A brand new generation of diabetes leaders just came out of the 9th edition of IDF Europe’s Youth Leadership Camp which took place in Turkey. Hosted by our member, the Turkish Diabetes Foundation, 22 participants learned new tools and built on their skills to advocate for the rights of people living with, or at risk of, diabetes in Europe.

Much more will come in the following months. We look forward to meeting you at IDF Europe’s Symposium on Sept. 16th and roundtable discussion taking place on Sept. 18th during the EASD Barcelona Annual Meeting. This year we will discuss at our Symposium how diabetes has been tackled under the NCD agenda and we look forward to listening to our members’ inputs on access to medical devices and new medical technology in our roundtable discussion.

The next important milestones will be World Diabetes Day 2019 and the next IDF General Assembly taking place in Busan.

This year the Diabetes lunch event at the European Parliament on Nov 14th organized by IDF Europe will be done under the auspices of the Finnsh Presidency thanks to Marjatta Stenius Kaukonen and the Finnish Diabetes Association. You will be communicated soon for the details of the program.

In Busan we will be electing our next Board Members together with the Chair-Elect. The call is already sent out and we are very much looking forward to have applicants for the Board position from all over Europe.

IDF Europe stays strong and united in an unpredictable and changing environment. Because the prevalence of diabetes in the European region continues to increase, the people living with diabetes and their families deserve our ongoing and tireless commitment to improve their lives.

On behalf of the IDF Europe Board and the Regional Office, I wish you all a great summer 2019.

Prof Dr Şehnaz Karadeniz, 

IDF Europe Chair     

IDF Europe contributes to the EMA Regulatory Science Consultation

July 07 2019

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) released in June a draft guideline on the quality requirements for medical devices in human medicines which include a medical device, known as drug-device combinations, for public consultation.

The guideline addresses the new obligations set out in the EU Regulation on medical devices, in particular the requirements about marketing authorisation applications. It is intended that this guideline will increase transparency and consistency of information in regulatory submissions, reducing work for all stakeholders and ultimately improving patient safety.

IDF Europe contributed to this public consultation, identifying the three core recommendations to deliver the most significant change in the regulatory system over the next five years. These are:

1. Promote the availability and uptake of biosimilars in healthcare systems
2. Contribute to the HTA’s preparedness and downstream decision-making for innovative medicines
3. Develop the regulatory framework for emerging digital clinical data generation

In the consultation, IDF Europe also outlined the main gaps in the strategy:

-      Restoring the trust between Health Technology Assesment companies and the rest of the society

-      Taking into account the experiences of health technologies’ existing users

-      Improving the systems of pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance

-      Providing the data needed to adjust the pricing according to the results of real-life studies

Please contact our Policy and Project officer Winne Ko (winne.ko@idf-euroe.org) for more information on IDF Europe’s full response to the EMA consultation on medical devices.

Read our Position Paper on Biosimilars

Read our joint statement on HTA

Learn more on the new EU Medical Devices Regulation here