World Diabetes Day
World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by IDF and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225.
WDD is the worlds largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public and political spotlight.
The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to:
Be the platform to promote IDF advocacy efforts throughout the year
Be the global driver to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue
The campaign is represented by a blue circle logo that was adopted in 2007 after the passage of the UN Resolution on diabetes.
The blue circle is the global symbol for diabetes awareness.
It signifies
In 2015, World Diabetes Day has become a year-long campaign to reflect the realities of people living with diabetes.
The campaign will focus on healthy eating as a key factor in the fight against diabetes and a cornerstone of global health and sustainable development.
Healthy eating:
Can help prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes
Is an important part of the effective management of all types of diabetes to help avoid complications
Two questions inform campaign activities:
How to ensure access to healthy food? Which healthy foods will help prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes?
Which healthy foods will help effectively manage all types of diabetes?
While WDD 2015 primarily addresses key opinion leaders, the campaign success also relies on the stakeholders of the global diabetes community. The aim is to engage stakeholders to improve access to healthy food, save lives, reduce the global burden of diabetes and save billions in lost productivity and healthcare costs.
Key messages
1. Act to change your life today
Healthy eating is an important part of managing all types of diabetes.
Almost 600 million of us may be living with type 2 diabetes by 2035. Delayed diagnosis means that many people with type 2 diabetes suffer from at least one complication by the time they are diagnosed with diabetes.
A healthy lifestyle could prevent up to 70% of type 2 diabetes, healthy eating can help reduce risks1. A healthy diet containing leafy vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grains, lean meat, unsweetened yogurt and nuts can help reduce a persons risk of type 2 diabetes and reduce complications in people with diabetes.
More of us will develop and live with type 1 diabetes. While type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, a healthy lifestyle is an important part of effective management of the disease.
Encouraging healthy eating habits in young children is key to halting the rise of the diabetes epidemic. By ensuring the health of future generations, we take a step toward ensuring sustainable development.
2. Act to change the world
tomorrow
Access to affordable healthy food is essential to reducing the global burden of diabetes and ensuring global sustainable development.
Diabetes is a huge and growing burden: whilst some 387 million adults were living with diabetes in 2014, this number is expected to skyrocket to around 600 million people by 2035.
Global health spending to treat diabetes and manage complications was estimated to cost USD 612 billion in 20141.
Up to 11% of total heal
thcare expenditure in every
country across the globe could be saved by tackling the preventable risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Up to 70% of type 2 diabetes cases can be prevented or
delayed by adopting healthier
lifestyles, equivalent to up
to 150 million cases by 2035. A healthy diet is, on average, USD 1.50 a day more expensive than an unhealthy one, increasing food costs for one person by about USD 550 a year.
The number of people with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries will continue to grow, posing a threat to sustainable development.
For example by 2035, the number of people with diabetes in the African region is expected to double.
Dietary recommendations
Individuals can reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes and those with type 1 diabetes may help improve their control by:
Choosing water, unsweetened coffee or tea instead of fruit juice, soda, and other sugar sweetened beverages
Eating at least three servings of vegetables every day, including green leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce or kale
Eating up to three servings of fresh fruit every day
Choosing nuts, a piece of fresh fruit or unsweetened yogurt for a snack
Limiting your alcohol intake to a maximum of two standard drinks per day
Choosing lean cuts of white meat, poultry or seafood instead of processed meat or red meat
Choosing peanut butter instead of chocolate spread or jam
Choosing whole-grain bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, whole grain pasta instead of refined pasta
Choosing unsaturated fats (olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, or sunflower oil) instead of saturated fats (butter, ghee, animal fat, coconut oil or palm oil)
These recommendations may also help people with diabetes to achieve optimal control.
Facts figures
The IDF Diabetes Atlas, Sixth Edition 2014 provides the latest figures, information and projections on the current and future magnitude of the diabetes epidemic.
Approximately 387 million adults have diabetes; by 2035 this will rise to 592 million
The proportion of people with type 2 diabetes is increasing in most countries
77% of adults with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries
The greatest number of people with diabetes are between 40 and 59 years of age
179 million people with diabetes are undiagnosed
Diabetes caused 4.9 million deaths in 2014; every seven seconds a person dies from diabetes
Diabetes caused at least USD 612 billion dollars in health expenditure in 2014 11% of total spending on adults
More than 79,000 children developed type 1 diabetes in 2013
More than 21 million live births were affected by diabetes during pregnancy in 2013 1 in 6 births.
Source: International Diabetes Federation
