The World seemed to have gone Blue on the eve of World Diabetes Day on 14th November, 2011 as major buildings in the World were bathed in sparkling blue lights symbolising the need to spread awareness regarding Diabetes among the masses!!
An Initiative by Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) in association with Abbott
Diabetes Blue Fortnight lead to a Walkathon,
Street Plays and many other awareness events in Mumbai on Sunday. Around 50 top monuments and buildings around the country were also be lit up blue under the Abbott Diabetes Blue Fortnight-2011 initiative.
These include Shaniwarwada Fort in Pune; the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, Old Fort, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Humayun Tomb, AIIMS, Fortis Hospitals, Metro Bhavan (New Delhi/NCR), Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, Agra; the Imambara in Lucknow; Manek Chowk and City Palace Grounds, Udaipur and Konark Temple in Orissa.
In 2010, over 900
monuments and buildings in 84 countries lit
in blue on 14 November to raise awareness of diabetes and World
Diabetes Day .
WHO estimates that more than 346 million people
worldwide have diabetes. This number is likely to more than double by 2030
without intervention. Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low- and
middle-income countries. It
added that in the current year, one person is dying from diabetes every seven
seconds.
Started by the
International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and WHO, World Diabetes Day is
celebrated on 14 November each year to mark the birthday of Frederick
Banting who, along with Charles Best, was instrumental in the discovery of
insulin in 1922, a life-saving treatment for diabetes patients.
The occasion is aimed to raise awareness of
diabetes, its prevention and complications and the care that people with the
condition need. Governments, non-governmental organizations and private
businesses are encouraged to increase awareness of the disease, particularly
among the general population and the media. World Diabetes Day was first
commemorated on November 14, 2007, and is observed annually.
The World Diabetes Day 2011 campaign marks the third year
of the International Diabetes Federation's five-year focus on "Diabetes education and prevention,"
the theme chosen for the period 2009-2013.
The slogan
chosen for this year's campaign is: Act on Diabetes. Now.
Five key messages have
been developed to inform the outputs and deliverables of the 2011 campaign:
Diabetes kills: 1 person every 8 seconds, 4 million people a year.
|
Diabetes does not discriminate: all ages, rich and
poor, all countries.
|
Diabetes can no longer be ignored: 4 million lives lost a
year, 1 million amputations a year, millions lost in income and productivity.
|
Life-saving care, a right not a privilege: education, medicines,
technologies.
|
Choose Health: demand
healthy food and environments, keep active, eat well. You can make a difference.
|
The International
Diabetes Federation (IDF), this year had arranged WDD Blue Monument
Challenge in which it had received 378 confirmed lightings, which were
uploaded in the Flickr album. (click on the link to view
them)
It even encouraged special performances in a local square, commercial
centre or other public place like dancing, doing a physical activity (eg.
jumping, exercising), forming a blue circle, or just shout out awareness
messages to alert the public on the urgent need to: ACT ON DIABETES NOW.
 |
| People forming a Blue Circle on World Diabetes Day |
The World Diabetes Day
logo is the blue circle - the global symbol for diabetes which was developed as
part of the Unite for Diabetes awareness campaign.
The official UN symbol for diabetes is a simple ring in the same
shade of blue as is used on the United Nations Flag and many other
United Nations symbols, also known as "Pantone 279".
The inner diameter of the ring is 70 percent of the outer diameter.
The ring is
used in combination with the slogan "unite for diabetes", where the
letters "U" and "N" of the word "unite" are
also in UN blue color and the other letters are in black. The ring symbol
was chosen because it is easy to display and could even be painted on a wall or
home-made banner. In addition, it occurs widely in nature and has been used in
many cultures to symbolize unity, life, the globe and health.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment