Q3-04
Leif Fenger Jensen Managing Director lfen@worlddiabetesfoundation.org	Welcome! First edition of WDF News This is the first time the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) has sent out a newsletter in this way. We plan to issue WDF News four times a year to keep you up to date with our activities around the world. We hope you enjoy the articles in this issue. 29 Projects currently supported Since the establishment of the WDF, in March 2002, 29 projects in the developing world have been launched with our support. We estimate that our current projects will have a direct impact over the next 3 years on the lives of more than 18 million people with diabetes (access to better treatment) and will affect more than 59 million people indirectly (improved awareness about diabetes and its complications). Collaboration and support This result would not have been possible without collaboration with and support from a lot of different partners and sponsors, both within and outside the diabetes field. The WDF Newsletter aims to give you an insight into the activities carried out around the world and the support granted by WDF to individual projects. We welcome your comments and suggestions for improvement of the newsletter. Thank you for your interest and support.
Diabetes Education Cameroon Q2-2004	WDF delivers visable results With 29 supported projects up and running all through the developing countries the World Diabetes Foundation has indeed managed to place diabetes on the global health agenda. Our close collaboration with the local health authorities has improved the access to and the quality of diabetes care for millions of people in the countries hardest hit with diabetes. Read more
Monitoring Visit Tanzania Q2-2004	Catching enthusiasm If one word were to describe WDF Programme Manager, Sanne Frost Helt’s impression of her monitoring visit to Tanzania it would be dedication. In the following we are taken to Tanzania and given a rare insight into the efforts done to face the diabetes challenge. Read more
Princess Benedikte Patron World Diabetes Foundation	A Royal step to prevent the diabetic foot in India With diabetes reaching almost epidemic proportions in India, improved diabetic care and treatment is advancing heavily on the health care agenda in India. Millions of untreated or insufficiently treated patients have generated a severe problem of secondary health complications with the diabetic foot representing the most serious disabling complication. Responding to the growing problems of diabetes foot complications the board of the World Diabetes Foundation has therefore awaited the day of the official opening of a preventive foot clinic in Chennai, India. The opening took place at the board’s official visit to India 15-19 March this year. Read more
Diabetes Action Now	A call to action New estimates suggest that diabetes is a bigger killer than AIDS. 3.2 million deaths are attributable to diabetes every year – equivalent to six deaths every minute. These alarming figures are accompanied by a call to action from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), with the launch of the global 'Diabetes Action Now' programme. In developed countries, diabetes mainly afflicts the over-65s. In developing countries however, it is people in the middle, productive years of their lives who are particularly affected by diabetes. At least one in ten deaths in adults aged 35 to 64 in developing countries is attributable to diabetes, and in some countries the figure is as high as one in five. Read more
Annual Report 2003	Annual Report 2003 The latest version of our annual report has been released. It contains a wealth of information on both the activities of the foundation and on the problem of diabetes in general. It is written in an interesting and easy to read style and contains some remarkable pictures from our projects around the world. Copies of the report can be downloaded here