Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia
Advertisement

From Race Cars and Google Doodles to Day Spas and Night Lights: Groups Across the U.S. Prepare to Join World Diabetes Day Celebrations on November 14

Saturday, November 1, 2008 General News
Advertisement
BRUSSELS, Belgium, October 31 Whether your tastes tendtoward bright lights and big cities, quiet contemplation or off-road racing,groups around the U.S. are gearing up to celebrate World Diabetes Day andraise awareness of the growing threat of diabetes.
Advertisement

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), which led the effort to getthe United Nations to recognize the existing World Diabetes Day (November 14)as an official UN world day, announced that this year's campaign theme is"Diabetes in Children and Adolescents."
Advertisement

Over 200 children a day are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and over500,000 children under the age of 15 live with diabetes worldwide. In theU.S. 40 children a day develop type 1 diabetes, roughly 15,000 children eachyear.

"People around the globe have embraced the effort to raise awareness ofthe growing threat of diabetes," said World Diabetes Day Campaign DirectorPhil Riley. "All diabetes is increasing and children are not spared. TheInternational Diabetes Federation estimates that 75,000 children with type 1diabetes worldwide cannot access the medication, monitoring and educationthey need to survive. This story goes largely ignored and these childrenremain in the shadows to face an uncertain future. We aim to bring diabetesto light."

The Federation issued a call to action to light monuments around theglobe in blue for World Diabetes Day (worlddiabetesday.org). Blue is thecolor of the global symbol for diabetes, the blue circle.

Not satisfied with just the call, IDF will work with the United Nationsto turn the UN building blue on November 14.

More than 20 sites around the U.S. will join monuments like the Pyramids,London Eye and Burj al Arab to light in blue on November 14 (worlddiabetesday.org/pr-activities). U.S. monuments include Niagara Falls,San Francisco City Hall, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Art MuseumFountain in Philadelphia and the University of Florida campus.

These events join a host of other national and global events to markWorld Diabetes Day. IDF will host an NGO Briefing and hold a panel discussionat the UN to discuss access to essential medicines for children with diabetesin the developing world.

Organizers of Tu Diabetes and Diabetes Daily created an online petitionrequesting that Google create a special "doodle" logo in blue to raiseawareness for World Diabetes Day.

Referring to the growing numbers with diabetes worldwide, Manny Hernandezof Tu Diabetes said "there are more than 250 million good reasons to do this.So come on Google, give diabetes a World Diabetes Day doodle."

Desert Dingo Racing, a team of Silicon Valley, California professionals,is making its second run at the Baja 1000, campaigning the official WorldDiabetes Day car in the race, a 1969 VW Beetle.

"We're doing another drive-a-thon fundraiser for IDF's education andawareness programs," said team co-founder Mike Aquino. "We've also teamed upwith the Federacion Mexicana de Diabetes to distribute literature and 4,000boxes of crayons that have the warning signs of diabetes printed on the back."

Candace Silvasy of Chattanooga, Tennessee, founder of Spa4Diabetes haslaunched her 'BlueBeauty' campaign in which spas from California toPennsylvania are creating and promoting blue-themed spa treatments for WorldDiabetes Day.

"BlueBeauty is uniting the beauty and spa industry to start a globalconversation about diabetes," Silvasy said. "Our goal is to make BlueBeautydo for diabetes what the Pink Ribbon did for breast cancer. For 2009, we'reworking with cosmetic companies to create BlueBeauty products and events withsales benefiting diabetes causes. My parents, who both have diabetes,inspired me to start this campaign."

For more information, visit the WDD website athttp://www.worlddiabetesday.org.

Note to editors:

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organizationof over 200 member associations in more than 160 countries, advocating forthe more than 250 million people with diabetes, their families, and theirhealthcare providers. Its mission is to promote diabetes care, prevention anda cure worldwide. The International Diabetes Federation is an NGO in officialrelations with the World Health Organization and an associated NGO with theUnited Nations Department of Public Information. The International DiabetesFederation leads the World Diabetes Day and Unite for Diabetes campaigns.Additional information is available at http://www.idf.orgSupporting links: Logos: IDF logo: http://tinyurl.com/4efr2q World Diabetes Day logo: http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/pr-logos Websites: International Diabetes Federation: http://www.idf.org World Diabetes Day: http://www.worlddiabetesday.org IDF Life for a Child program: http://www.lifeforachild.org Tu Diabetes: http://tudiabetes.com/ Diabetes Daily: http://www.diabetesdaily.com/ Google Doodle petition: http://tinyurl.com/5k9og3 Desert Dingo Racing: http://tinyurl.com/4vsgbf Spa4Diabetes: http://tinyurl.com/6p9d6z Global Activities: http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/pr-activities Imagery: All monuments in blue 2007: http://tinyurl.com/3jkb8k Niagara Falls: http://tinyurl.com/4hue79

SOURCE International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
Sponsored Post and Backlink Submission


Latest Press Release on General News

This site uses cookies to deliver our services.By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Use  Ok, Got it. Close