Presenting new epidemiological and diabetes-related impact data.
Presenting new epidemiological and diabetes-related impact data.
Last month, the Diabetes Association of Serbia held its 10th annual leadership camp – Diabetes Leaders of Serbia, which gathered 15 young participants aged 18-30 from around the country in the town of Nova Pazova for six busy days of interactive workshops and lectures.
On May 16, the Swedish Diabetes Association will celebrate its 80th anniversary (“Diaversary”). The association was founded in May 1943, when insulin was still a novelty, and its cost too high for many people living with diabetes (PwD). The aim of the association and its first President, Ms Therése Eriksson, was to advocate to ensure access to free insulin for all PwD.
In March 2023, the Albanian Diabetes Association, in collaboration with WHO Europe, completed the six-month awareness campaign “I got vaccinated. And you?”.
On March 19, Neophytos Neophytidis, Cyprus Zantis and Giorgos Panagiotou, members of the Cyprus Diabetes Association, participated in the OPAP Limassol Marathon, in Cyprus.
The Polish Diabetes Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Diabetyków) was awarded a €50,000 grant by Boehringer Ingelheim to support Ukrainian refugees living with diabetes in Poland.
Last November 14, on World Diabetes Day 2022, as Kyiv was facing multiple missiles attacks, the International Diabetes Association of Ukraine organised several creative activities for children living with diabetes in the bomb shelter of the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital.
On January 16, the Greek Ministry of Health issued the implementing provisions of the law that, in 2018, approved the “Subspecialty of Diabetology” for internists and paediatricians in Greece. The new two-year curriculum will be implemented in 22 officially approved Diabetes Centres across the country.
During November, to mark World Diabetes Day, the Charity Union of Persons with Disabilities and People with Diabetes Mellitus in Uzbekistan (UMID) organised several events in the Tashkent region in collaboration with the Regional Endocrinological Dispensary.
On the occasion of WDD, the Turkish Diabetes Association organised the illumination in blue of two of the major bridges in Istanbul, the Fatih Sultan Mehmet and the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridges. The blue lighting of the two bridges which connect the European and Asian continents took place on November 14 to mark WDD and lasted until daylight.
To celebrate World Diabetes Day (WDD), the Slovenian Diabetes Association (SLODA), organised several activities throughout November.
On World Diabetes Day, the Portuguese diabetes association, APDP, launched an awareness campaign to call for improved access to automated insulin delivery systems for children and young people living with diabetes (PwD) in the country.
On November 14, the Cyprus Diabetic Association (CDA) organised several initiatives to celebrate World Diabetes Day (WDD). The association featured information about the meaning and history of WDD in the new issue of its newsletter. Some of the association’s members also participated in various TV programmes as guests.
During November, the Portuguese Society of Diabetology (SPD) joined the World Diabetes Day campaign to raise awareness of the need for better access to quality diabetes education for healthcare professionals and people living with diabetes (PwD).
On November 14, on the occasion of World Diabetes Day, the Swedish Diabetes Association held a webinar to officially launch the “Diabetes Barometer” (Diabetesbarometern). The Diabetes Barometer is a report developed by the association to compare diabetes care and treatment results across Sweden. The document provides a comprehensive analysis, including responses from 3,500 people living with diabetes (PwD) as well as data on treatment results from the National Diabetes Register in 2021.
On the occasion of World Diabetes Day (WDD), FAND (Associazione Italiana Diabetici) held several blood glucose testing events across Italy during November, with the objective of identifying undiagnosed people living with diabetes (PwD). This initiative, which had had to be halted in the past couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has now started again. The events are organised by the association’s local branches present across most Italian regions.
Every year, in the months leading up to World Diabetes Day (WDD), and on the day itself, the Slovenian Diabetes Association (SLODA) organises several initiatives to raise awareness of diabetes.
Following the success of their first eye screening campaign in 2021, the Bulgarian Diabetes Association (BDA), in collaboration with Bayer Bulgaria, conducted a second campaign between May and July 2022. The aim was to provide people living with diabetes (PwD) in remote areas of the country with the opportunity to get screened for eye disease that can lead to vision impairment and blindness. For PwD, eye health is particularly important as diabetes-related retinopathy is a diabetes complication that affects more than one third of all PwD, but its early diagnosis and timely treatment can prevent vision impairment and blindness.
The Swedish Diabetes Association will be launching a new podcast on diabetes research which is made possible thanks to the Diabetes Fund, which supports diabetes research as well as initiatives to increase knowledge about diabetes and improve the life of those living with the condition.
On June 11, the volunteer-led Slovakian association of young adults living with diabetes, Diador, held the 23rd edition of the “Dia Exhibition” in Bratislava, an event that is organised yearly by the association. The annual event consists in the exhibition of new food products and devices for the management of diabetes and is attended by people living with diabetes (PwD) from all across Slovakia. The exhibition represents not only an opportunity for PwD to learn about, and try out, new products, but is also a day during which they can meet other people living with type 1 and/or type 2 diabetes.
From June 10 to June 13, the Portuguese Diabetes Association (APDP) and the association’s youth group (NJA) held the 5th APDP/NJA Expedition for Type 1 Diabetes, a three-day hike to the National Portuguese Park. Fourteen young people living with Type 1 Diabetes, three healthcare professionals, three guides, and one photographer participated in the expedition which consisted of five trails of medium-high difficulty.
The 12th Serbian Congress on Diabetes was held virtually in Belgrade, on March 20-25, 2022, and was attended internationally by 1375 participants. The Congress traditionally involved clinicians and researchers, nurses and people living with diabetes (PwD). During the opening ceremony, Dr Niti Pall, IDF Europe Chair, emphasised the importance of the meeting, which brought together all members of the diabetes community in Serbia.
On March 23, 2022, the Turkish Diabetes Foundation (Türkiye Diyabet Vakfı) started an online conversation series “Perspectives on Diabetes”. Its aim is to present different perspectives on diabetes-related topics, ranging from scientific issues to policy implementation and programmes, innovations in medicines and technologies.
The Bulgarian Diabetes Association is working in close collaboration with several other organisations to implement projects on diabetes prevention and awareness, and to increase their impact.
The Armenian Association of Diabetes recently held an event “The History of Diabetes and the Discovery of Insulin”. During this event, the President of the Association drew attention to issues regarding the lack of access to insulin and other diabetes medicines in the country, which may result in an increase in diabetes-related complications. A plan of action was discussed during the event to re-organise diabetes prevention and care, and improve access to medications for all people living with diabetes in order to reduce the risk of developing diabetes-related complications.
IDF Europe is delighted to announce that the Portuguese Diabetes Association (APDP), the winner of the Long-standing Achievement Prize 2021, supported by Lilly Diabetes, has decided to donate the share of the prize money designated to a charitable purpose, to the Ernesto Roma Foundation (ERF).
It is important to remember that diabetes continues to increase and that much more can and must be done to reduce its impact in Portugal. We cannot let our guard down in the relentless fight against this pandemic.
On the Centenary of the Discovery of Insulin, we celebrate one of the greatest medical achievements of all time, and the millions of lives that have been saved in the past 100 years.
Once again, the IDF Europe TEAM Meeting was held virtually on 14 December 2021, as a result of the COVID situation across many European countries.
During 2021 the Diabetes Association of Serbia developed, recorded and published its own podcast series - “Talks on Diabetes”. The project aimed to discuss important diabetes-related topics through a popular and easily accessible medium, using day-to-day language and in an informal setting.
Associação Protectora dos Diabéticos de Portugal (APDP) has been awarded an operational grant by the BPI Solidarity Award | la Caixa Foundation 2021 for its project "Access to Health: Integrating Migrants with Diabetes in Healthcare".
On September 10-12, the Swedish Diabetes Association hosted, in its office in Stockholm, a youth camp for people living with diabetes.
One hundred years after its discovery, insulin is still essential for many people living with diabetes (PwD). On the occasion of the Centenary of Insulin, the FFD wishes to highlight the challenges that PwD experience every day through a series of video testimonials which will be released throughout 2021.
After a one-year interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on September 3-5, APDP organised the 4th edition of its Annual Expeditions in the Serra da Estrela, the highest mountains in continental Portugal.
In addition to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, this year also marks 65 years since the foundation of the Slovenian Diabetes Association (SLODA). To celebrate these two important milestones, SLODA has planned a wide range of activities.
This year, Diabetes Liga hosted its annual youth camp in St. Vith, east Belgium, between July, 10 and July, 18.
During the month of August, the Norwegian Diabetes Association organised a digital summer camp for youths in Norway.
In 2021, the Lithuanian Diabetes Association organised different activities/camps, targeting people living with different types of diabetes and from different age groups, with specific objectives and goals.
Every year, now in its 6th edition, Sweet Team, ANIAD FVG OdV, (ANIAD affiliated association from Friuli Venezia Giulia, in Italy) organizes a “Sport & Diabetes” school camp aimed at people living with Type 1 diabetes and aged between 18 and 65 years. This year the camp will take place in Lignano Sabbiadoro (UD) from Tuesday, September 21st, to Saturday, September 25th, 2021.
The theme of the National Diabetes Congress 2021 that was held between June 1st and 5th in Bodrum-Turkey was the ‘100th-Year Anniversary of the Insulin Discovery’.
In May 2021, one of our member associations, the Ukrainian Diabetes Federation, published Atlas: Diabetes in Ukraine. This publication makes statistical data available to optimise diabetes care and analyses which interventions are the most effective for managing diabetes and improving the lives of people living with diabetes (PwD).
Portugal is currently starting the second COVID-19 vaccination phase. The Portuguese Diabetes Association (APDP) estimates that, by the end of May, all people with diabetes above 16, type 1 or type 2, will have received the first shot of the vaccine.
It comes as no surprise that the current pandemic has exacerbated already existing inequalities and has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable segments of our population. For instance, multiple scientific studies make a link between diabetes and a considerably more severe variety of COVID-19 as well as increased morbidity and mortality of people living with diabetes (PwD). However, while treating the virus, the round-the-clock management of diabetes should not be forgotten.
To celebrate World Diabetes Day, during the month of November FAND organised various events in Italy. FAND held several webinars and seminars, most of them focused on the management of diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Various activities were carried out on World Diabetes Day by Slovenian Diabetes Association (SLODA).
To promote World Diabetes Day, Macedonian Scientific Association of Endocrinologists and Diabetologists organized the 5th annual symposium from November 13 to 14.
From September 11 to 18, the French Diabetes Federation (FFD) will organise the 9th edition of the National Diabetes Prevention Week. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the week, traditionally organised in June, was postponed to the start of the new school year.
This project consisted of a six-stage mini-tour for 14 non-professional cyclists with Type 1 Diabetes from different regions in Italy, starting from Tivoli on September 6 and ending at Castelnuovo del Garda on September 11, with a final stage running along lake Garda. The total distance exceeded 700 Km with over 2000-metre drops along the route. ANIAD diabetologists, Gerado Corigliano and Felice Strollo assisted the athletes by providing expert advice, both during the tour and during the evening debriefing sessions.
The Turkish Diabetes Association also organised a series of events in November, to raise awareness of diabetes, under the theme of Protect Your Family.
The Slovenian Diabetes Association (SLODA) launched its World Diabetes Day campaign on November 9, with a national celebration in Škofja Loka, which also marked the 30th anniversary of Škofja Loka’s local diabetes association.
On November 14, together with the Lisbon City Council, ADPD held a public information session in the form of a play to discuss the importance of the family in diabetes care, management, and prevention.
The Association of Endocrinologists of Kazakhstan held a conference on November 14, 2019, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, focused on "Modern approaches to the treatment of type 2 diabetes in the light of the ADA-EASD and the Kazakh Consensus", in which 32 doctors participated.
The Georgian Diabetes Association has been celebrating World Diabetes Day (WDD) since 1992 and has successfully made diabetes a top-of-mind disease in the country.
For World Diabetes Day 2019, the French Diabetes Federation launched a campaign "People living with diabetes, some jobs turn their backs on you", designed to raise awareness of the fact that today in France and in Europe, if you have diabetes, you are excluded from joining some professions.
To mark World Diabetes Day, the Faroese Diabetes Association organised a meeting about type 2 diabetes and the latest forms of treatment, which was presented by a specialist doctor from the outpatient clinic at the national hospital. This highly interactive meeting, with many exchanges, questions, and answers, was held in a pleasant setting at a boat-museum and attended by about 50 people.