Today is World Diabetes Day. Each year on November 14, the International Diabetes Federation engages millions of people around the world in hopes to draw attention to diabetes. World Diabetes Days falls in American Diabetes Month, which we wrote about last week, but reaches more than 160 countries worldwide.
The focus of the campaign for the next couple of years is diabetes education and awareness, and people are doing a lot of activities to get involved. Public spaces and buildings around the world will be lighting themselves with blue light in honor of the occasion. Because education is a critical part of understanding diabetes, many organizations are making it easy for you to participate. You can take the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Risk Assessment, which evaluates your risk and provides tips to lower it. You can also take the Big Blue Test, which helps provide life-saving supplies to people with diabetes. Both of these tests allow you to share with your Facebook friends to help spread the word about diabetes.
Curious about what VSP does for people with diabetes? Because diabetes can be detected through an eye exam, VSP providers are always counseling patients about the connection between eye health and overall health (see our Diabetes Discovery Center). We also have a great campaign that focuses specifically on diabetes–Eye on Diabetes. This year we took the VSP Mobile Eyes on the road to three states and with the help of 23 VSP network doctors, we helped over 2,500 uninsured/underserved adults and children receive free eyecare services. Of those, 89 were directly referred for diabetes risk.
Here’s a brief video from our last 2011 stop in Atlanta, Georgia.
The campaign will continue to four more states in 2012. Stay tuned for dates and locations!
