World Diabetes Day 2021: Access to Diabetes Care – If Not Now, When?

Overview

World Diabetes Day (WDD) was initiated in 1991 by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. WDD became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225.

It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

Aims

WDD is the world’s 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.
• Global driver to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.

Theme

Every year, the World Diabetes Day campaign focuses on a dedicated theme that runs for one or more years. The theme for World Diabetes Day 2021-23 is Access to Diabetes Care – If Not Now, When?.

Facts

• 463 million adults (1-in-11) were living with diabetes in 2019 The number of people living with diabetes is expected rise to 578 million by 2030.
• 1 in 2 adults with diabetes remain undiagnosed (232 million). The majority have type 2 diabetes.
• More than 3 in 4 people with diabetes live in low and middle-income countries.
• 1 in 6 live births (20 million) are affected by high blood glucose (hyperglycaemia) in pregnancy.
• Two-thirds of people with diabetes live in urban areas and three-quarters are of working age.
• 1 in 5 people with diabetes (136 million) are above 65 years old.
• Diabetes caused 4.2 million deaths in 2019.
• Diabetes was responsible for at least $760 billion in health expenditure in 2019 – 10% of the global total spent on healthcare.

Key Messages

Fundamental components of diabetes care include:

• Access to insulin
• Access to oral medicines
• Access to self-monitoring
• Access to education and psychological support.
• Access to healthy food and a safe place to exercise.

Source of info: http://worlddiabetesday.org/resources/

Recommended readings

• Diabetes Around the World in 2021 (Key global findings)
• International Diabetes Federation 2021 Diabetic Foot Training
• Exercises for the Cure of Diabetes Mellitus-2 at Home
• World Diabetes Day 2020! “Diabetes: Nurses Make The Difference”
• World Diabetes Day 2019! Diabetes: Protect your Family”
• To tackle diabetes, strengthen primary health care and empower families
• World Diabetes Day 2018! Diabetes Concern Every Family!
• Women and diabetes – our right to a healthy future – World Diabetes Day 2017
• Eyes on Diabetes – World Diabetes Day 2016
• Type 2 Diabetes and Its correlates: A Cross Sectional Study in a Tertiary Hospital of Nepal
• World Diabetes Day 2014 : ”Diabetes and Healthy Life”
• ‘WORLD DIABETES DAY-2012- Nov-14th”
• Health and Education Ministers, heads of partner agencies commit to health promoting schools for all in WHO South-East Asia Region
• The Global Week for Action on NCDs 2021 #ActOnNCDs