‘Unite for Diabetes’ campaign launched

A person dies of diabetes every 10 seconds, a group of doctors revealed.

In a press conference last week, the Philippine Diabetes Association (PDA) led by its president Dr. Tommy Willing, added two persons develop diabetes every 10 seconds due to lack of ample knowledge about the deadly disease.

“It is a life-threatening condition… Unfortunately 50 percent of the people (afflicted with it) do not know that they have it,” Willing said.

To create public awareness about diabetes, Willing’s group, along with the Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, the Institute for Studies on Diabetes Foundation and the Diabetes Center Philippines, launched a worldwide campaign dubbed as “Unite for Diabetes.”

Willing said the effort is aimed at addressing the growing population of Filipino diabetics.

He said diabetes, being a silent killer, is a global problem with devastating human, social and economic impact.

“Today, more than 200 million people worldwide are living with diabetes. This number is increasing by six million every year. The growing pandemic is set to overwhelm healthcare resources in every country and in many, is disabling or killing people of working age,” he said.

Willing said most people are not aware of diabetes compared to the dreaded Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

He said more than 3.8 million people die of diabetes-related causes each year. The disease, also accounts for over a million amputations annually, he added. 

“More than 245 million people worldwide are living with diabetes and by 2025, the total is expected to increase to over 380 million. Each year, another seven million develop diabetes,” he said.

Willing said the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 61/225 last Dec. 20, recognizing diabetics as a chronic, debilitating and costly disease associated with major complications that pose severe risks for families, countries and the entire world.

Resolution 61/225, according to Willing, declared Nov. 14 of every year, the current World Diabetes Day, as United Nation Day to be observed beginning this year.

Willing said Unite for Diabetes, a campaign supported by the UN resolution, is aimed at enjoining doctors to support the global awareness initiative through a two-day convention that they will organize.

A national art competition was also launched by the PDA in coordination with GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company. It is dubbed as “Designs on Diabetes” for Filipino doctors who are treating two diabetes patients.

Willing said the national art competition is aimed at providing a venue for doctors to show their empathy to type 2 diabetes patients through their artistic expressions in the form of sketches and drawings, paintings and photography.

“As doctors, we can help patients accept their condition, comply with treatment and manage diabetes by empathizing with their sufferings. To do nothing is no longer an option. We have cost-effective strategies to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes complications. It is time for governments to act,” Willing said.