The United Nations (UN)’s World Diabetes Day (WDD) is annually observed across the globe on 14 November to raise awareness about the impact of diabetes on the health of people.
- WDD also aims to highlight the opportunities to strengthen the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diabetes.
WDD Campaign:
i.WDD is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign, annually focusing on a dedicated theme that runs for one or more years.
ii.The theme for WDD 2021-23 is “Access to Diabetes Care“.
- The campaign focuses on the critical need to understand the risk of type 2 diabetes to help delay or prevent the condition.
iii.The slogan for the 2023 campaign is: “Know your risk, Know your response.”
Background:
i.WDD was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the growing concerns about the health threat posed by diabetes.
- Since 1991, WDD has been observed on 14 November at the global level by IDF.
ii.On 20 December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/61/225 and proclaimed the 14 November of every year, as a UN Day, beginning in 2007.
iii.The first-ever UN-recognised WDD was observed on 14 November 2007.
Why November 14?
14 November marks the birthday of Sir Frederick Grant Banting, a Canadian medical scientist who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Herbert Best, an American-Canadian medical scientist in 1922.
- Sir Frederick Grant Banting won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923 for the discovery of insulin, he shared the award with John James Rickard Macleod, a Scottish physiologist.
WDD Logo:
i.The WDD campaign is represented by the blue circle logo.
ii.IDF introduced the blue circle as the universal symbol of diabetes in 2006, for a campaign that resulted in the passage of a UN resolution on WDD.
iii.The logo signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes epidemic.
Note: In 2023, IDF incorporated the blue circle into its official hummingbird logo.
Diabetes and its types:
i.It is a chronic disease, which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
- This leads to an increased concentration of glucose in the blood (hyperglycemia) and is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
ii.Type 1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent or childhood-onset diabetes) is characterized by a lack of insulin production.
iii.Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset diabetes) is caused by the body’s ineffective use of insulin.
- It often results from excess body weight and physical inactivity.
iii.Gestational diabetes is hyperglycemia that is first recognised during pregnancy.
Key Facts:
According to WHO:
- Globally, around 422 million people have diabetes, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes every year.
- Over 90% have type 2 diabetes. Close to half are not yet diagnosed.
- Only about 50% of people with type 2 diabetes get the insulin they need, often because their country’s health systems cannot afford it.
- Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 30-40%.
- In the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region, India has placed more than 24 million people with hypertension and diabetes on standard care.
About International Diabetes Federation (IDF):
President– Prof. Akhtar Hussain (Norway)
President-Elect– Prof Peter Schwarz (Germany)
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
Founded on– September 23, 1950
