Beautiful Landmarks for an Unrecognized Epidemic (B.L.U.E)

The first UN-sponsored World Diabetes Day (WDD) took place on November 14, 2007, signaling real progress for the diabetes world. We spent three eventful days in New York and came away feeling rather positive about our community's ability to effect change. Diabetes is slowly being recognized as much more than just a healthcare problem - it's an economic problem, a social problem, and a development problem. Much of the focus during WDD was on early intervention and improved treatments to reduce both the human and financial costs of diabetic complications. Virtually all speakers discussed the great need to raise awareness and increase education, especially in developing countries. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) did a tremendous job managing the global efforts that made WDD a success. We encourage you to join the awareness campaign by teaching somebody one helpful fact about diabetes - just one fact to anyone! - once you finish reading diaTribe of course!

The premier of the revealing documentary, Diabetes - A Global Epidemic, kicked off the week's celebrations. To anybody who was not in the know, one could easily mistake the elegant gathering at New York's Museum of Natural History on Monday, November 12, as just another night at the museum. It would have been difficult to tell that the lady in the fabulous red dress had just circumnavigated the globe with a film crew from Discovery Health, chasing down eye-opening diabetes stories. This lady is Dr. Francine Kaufman, whom we interviewed in this issue's diaTribe dialogue.

The fabulous evening was a prelude to the more solemn event at the United Nations, with Dr. Martin Silink, President of the IDF. Every time we hear the measured tones of Dr. Silink, we experience a sense of comfort akin to having a great cut man in our corner of the ring. Dr. Silink delivered multiple presentations over four days and would inevitably touch on three things: his take on the concept of the "tipping point," the creation of a global fund for diabetes, and blue-lit buildings around the world. The "tipping point," popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, characterizes the domino effect for an idea once a critical mass of support has been attained. This was how the UN Resolution on diabetes gained traction last year, and this is how Dr. Silink believes governmental actions, implementing the ideas laid out in the Resolution, will occur. Currently, 80 percent of diabetes medical care expenditures are from developed countries while, paradoxically, 80 percent of diabetic patients will soon live in low-to-middle-income countries. Bangladesh, a low-income country, took the initiative and spearheaded the UN Resolution on diabetes after the idea was brought to the UN by two determined spirits (see below). diaTribe must point out that at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference in 2006, Bangladesh was the sole country calling for a UN Resolution - there was a tiny press conference with fewer than five of us present - huge kudos to the country for making the impossible happen.

Naturally, we were happy that Dr. Silink mentioned Coit Tower in San Francisco, our hometown, whenever he noted buildings lit in blue to raise awareness of diabetes. Check out the diaTribe video to see how this happened and write to us at [email protected] and let us know if you saw a building in your city light up blue on November 14 and tell us what it meant to you! We'll have a quotable quotes page about WDD next issue! We were so glad to see locally, that the hard work with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the mayor's office came to fruition - we hope San Francisco will continue to wake up, along with other cities around the globe, and fight even harder to raise awareness about diabetes. With diaTribe, the Coit Tower lighting was co-sponsored by the Diabetes Care Coalition (DCC), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Diabetes Mine, and Johnson & Johnson. We note that here in the Bay Area, our esteemed mayor, Gavin Newsom, who signed the proclamation for the lighting of Coit Tower began an impressive Shape Up! Program in 2006 to get people moving - long may this continue!

Globally, icons were lit up to commemorate the day, including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sydney Opera House, the Sears Tower, the Taipei 100 Tower (the tallest building in the world since 2004 no less), Niagara Falls, the London Eye, Seoul Tower, Moshe Aviv tower in Tel-Aviv, Catedral de Lima in Peru, and of course the Empire State Building in New York (see our photomontage at the end of this article).

The amazing Changing Diabetes Bus that we've now seen in South Africa (IDF '06), Chicago (ADA '07), and Berlin (ISPAD '07 - see this issue's Conference Pearls) spent two days as the center of a very hip diabetes village set up in the heart of Union Square in Manhattan. This 56-foot mobile testament to Novo Nordisk's commitment to diabetes education received ~5,500 visitors and performed 439 diabetes screenings in a single day. In a day! Without a doubt, diabetes awareness at its best. Once the highly regarded Dr. Alan Moses, Chief Medical Officer for Novo Nordisk, had officially opened New York's leg of the bus tour, we were struck by the swiftness with which the visits occurred. New York was originally slated as the final destination for the bus tour; however, true to Novo Nordisk's commitment, diaTribe learned that the tour would continue into 2008 - starting in France! Indeed, at the Changing Diabetes bus, New Yorkers came, New Yorkers saw, and New Yorkers departed - equipped with a pedometer to undertake healthy lifestyle changes - learning how to work practically toward the American Heart Association's goal of 10,000 steps a day.

The World Diabetes Day circular blue logo, featured on the lapels of many, underscores that the global diabetes community must unify to combat the epidemic. This could not have been more evident during the formation of the Human Blue Circle - hundreds of people with blue umbrellas gathered in the UN's Rose Garden, to listen to words from Dr. Silink and Her Excellency Ismat Jahan, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN. It was a powerful moment when about 700 umbrellas were hoisted up over about 1,000 people standing shoulder to shoulder with one goal in mind - get the word out about the epidemic. Each step of the ensuing 246-step march -- up First Avenue to the 59th St. Bridge -- represented a million people with diabetes worldwide, a statement that attests to the power of community action.

In closing, we salute a very important and most unassuming group, the incredible IDF's Youth Ambassadors - the official advocates for the United Nations Resolution on diabetes. Our enormous appreciation goes out again to Clare Rosenfeld and her mother, Kari Rosenfeld - two exceptional and now very well known diabetes advocates. At age 17, Clare came up with the idea for the Resolution, which ultimately came into being in 2006. With the help of the IDF, she founded the International Diabetes Youth Advocates - a dedicated group of 25 young people with diabetes striving to better the lives of people with diabetes in their communities and worldwide. The Youth Ambassadors were out in full force during the WDD events, and we look forward to chronicling more great work from them over the coming years. diaTribe thanks you, for your perseverance and your acumen in getting WDD off the ground. What an inspired and inspiring week and what a way to get us ready for 2008.

A WDD diaTribe photomontage

(Images courtesy of http://www.worlddiabetesday.org/wddgallery & Mark Yarchoan)