Walking the talk

For the third time the World Diabetes Foundation would like you to join the Global Diabetes Walk on 14. November 2006.

By walking you can actually do something to prevent diabetes or raise awareness of the serious problems due to diabetes. Awareness about diabetes is the first important step towards solving the problem.

Signing up is as easy as - walking! Visit www.gwlk.info to register your own walk or to join the existing events.

Not just another walk

The purpose of taking a “global diabetes walk” is to spread the message of diabetes globally and locally. At the same time you prove to yourself how easy and fun it is to walk; a low cost way of getting the essential exercise that can prevent type 2 diabetes.

Brazil, Montes Claros. Participants in the Global Diabetes Walk 2005

Walk coordinators around the world have shown great enthusiasm in arranging Walk events on Diabetes Day. The Turkish diabetes group is organising 27 walks around the country with 63,000 expected participants. A UK school is dedicating a day to healthy living and diabetes awareness. 1600 school children will go through a series of presentations then join the walk.

It doesn’t matter whether your walk is for one person or a thousand. The important thing is that you take part. One thing is for sure, even if you walk alone you will be walking with thousands of others around the world.

Help the diabetes communities to support a UN Resolution on diabetes

Last year, almost 90,000 people from 39 countries worldwide took part in the Global Diabetes Walk. This year more than 150,000 have signed up to participate. All of the people who join this year’s walk will also send a visible sign of support to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in its bid to pass a United Nations Resolution on diabetes.

The interest in the walk is evident if you look at how many visit the WDF Walk website (www.gwlk.info) to learn more, and eventually to sign up: “In 14 days we have had 350,000 hits on the website”, says Gary Abram, WDF Coordinator of the walk. “The normal traffic is around 30,000 per month. The best ever was 500,000 in November 2004 which was the month of the walk so things are looking better than ever”. 33% of visits are from Denmark, the remainder are mostly US, Australia, UK and China.

This year’s diabetes theme – ‘The disadvantaged and the vulnerable’

Diabetes is a global concern that affects us all directly or indirectly. By taking part in the Global Diabetes Walk, we have an opportunity to raise awareness of the need for worldwide action for the many disadvantaged and vulnerable population groups with diabetes or at risk of diabetes who live among us.

WDF fundraiser in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

“According to UN-HABITAT, half of the global population lives in urban areas, and third of them – about 1 billion people live in slums”, says Anil Kapur, Managing Director of the World Diabetes Foundation; “Diabetes rates are abnormally high in these groups and there is a lack of access to diabetes care”.

In cooperation with Novo Nordisk A/S, the World Diabetes Foundation would like to use this year’s Global Diabetes Walk to raise awareness to the plight of urban slum dwellers around the world. Novo Nordisk encourages its affiliates to raise funds in support of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. Among the two-and-a-half million people living in Belo Horizonte almost half a million live in the slum quarters.

A pilot project with big ambitions

Laurena de Almeida Magnoni from Novo Nordisk Brazil's São Paulo office is coordinating the fundraising project in Belo Horizonte. The "Diabetes Care for All" project is a community based pilot involving 12,000 people of the million city inhabitants that lives in the slums.

”Knowledge is the key word, as many of the poorest people actually have access to free health care in Brazil. Instead they lack information and simple means to get to the hospital” explains Laurena. She is working closely together with a NGO and their intention is to train health agents who visit the homes regularly.The health authorities have agreed to support the training component, and this support is crucial for the success of the pilot project, but also an important indication of their willingness and positive understanding of starting up a large scale project like this. A parallel project, supported by WDF and National Diabetes Patients Association FENAD, is already being conducted to increase the capacity of the health care professionals and in detection and treatment of diabetes. The FENAD hopes the project will cover 51 medium cities in Brazil until 2010.

The World Diabetes Foundation encourages you to take part in the Global Diabetes Walk. Please visit www.gwlk.info and register for a walk.