An Empowering experience

The fourth soccer tournament for chil-dren and adolescents with diabetes took place between the 20-22 August 2010 at the Center Sportif du Bout-du-Monde in Geneva and was a great success. In this tournament, the young persons living with diabetes and their parents had the opportunity to discuss diabe-tes management and life with diabe-tes in an informal and fun atmos-phere. There were around 250 boys and girls with type 1 diabetes aged between six and eighteen from 17 na-tions including Malta, Great Britain, Slovakia, France, Italy, Spain, Swit-zerland, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, USA, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. All play-ers were supported by several specta-tors - participants, family members, volunteers and friends. The concept behind the Junior Diabe-tes Cup was created four years ago. Since then, the main sponsors, Med-tronic have never looked back and have organized this highly successful sports manifestation were several chil-dren and adolescents living with Type 1 Diabetes had the unique opportunity to engage in sports which is a good way for them to reduce stress, strengthen their self-confidence and have fun with other kids of their own age. The event was an empowering experience for all these children who felt that they are not living alone with diabetes. Diabetes and Sports

Sport, or exercise of some form, is an essential part of diabetes treatment. People living with diabetes, like other people, are healthier when they take regular and appropriate exercise. Par-

ticipating in sports, whether they are team sports with a competitive objec-tive or non-regulated sports with intrin-sic rewards, can be a great way for people with diabetes to stay healthy and enjoy them-selves. The Junior Diabe-tes Cup was an ideal op-portunity for these young-sters to in-dulge in their favourite sporting activity – football! A Motivating Message

I was asked by the promoters and or-ganizers to deliver a speech at the opening ceremony in my capacity as President of IDF Europe who supported this empowering event. The majority of the audience were children and adoles-cents all eager and enthusiastic to start their football tournament and assist in the draws which established the fixtures for the whole weekend. I therefore wanted to deliver an inspir-ing and concise message that would ap-peal and help these youngsters under-stand that life with diabetes is not the end of the world. I addressed these youngsters as ‘true champions’ and urged them to enjoy themselves and respect each other. My message to these youngsters was simple - if they really want to succeed in life and they truly believe in what they are doing; their diabetes will not

Junior Diabetes Cup: An empowering sports event

for children and adolescents with diabetes

S t o r i e s

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Artists with diabetes

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European Health Award

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A new campaign for early detec-tion and aware-ness

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Meetings and Congresses

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From our mem-bers

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the european diabetes newsletter

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In th i s i s s ue

• Junior Diabetes Cup, a unique ex-perience for children and youth with diabetes.

• There are many ways to balance one’s life: art might be a productive and fun way to do it.

• The European Chronic Diseases Alliance stepped strongly in the European political arena: see the follow on to the alliance’s actions in spring.

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hold them back. For the first time, IDF Europe introduced a special award for ‘Sportsmanship and Team-work’ for a team in each age group. The win-

ners of these awards in the respective age groups were France, Switzerland and USA. The winning countries were chosen by the team of referees. Sir Michael Hirst, President Elect of the Inter-national Diabetes Federation and Ms. Debbie Jones, Vice President of the International Dia-betes Federation were also present at this highly empowering event. Lenny – the friend of the child living with dia-

betes

Lenny was created as a mascot to deliver a strong message to children and adolescents with diabetes. Lenny is a lion who finds it really easy to talk about Diabetes. He can de-scribe what it is, why people have it, how chil-dren may feel about being diagnosed and what they might feel about living with the condition. Lenny has a unique way of talking and interacting with children and this was evi-dent at the Junior Diabetes Cup. Everywhere Lenny went, children followed him. Lenny played football, danced with the children and created a special feeling amongst all the par-ticipants. For the past four years, Lenny has been used to primarily promote diabetes management and care in children. The mes-sage is relayed in a simple, easy to under-stand language that portrays diabetes as a

condition that isn’t the end of the world if handled and managed correctly. Lenny arrived at the stadium dressed in his customary football gear driven in a in a classic Porsche car. As soon as the children saw Lenny they starting cheering their mascot and embracing him. He was welcomed as their hero! Diabetes + Football = Winning formula

The decision to organize an event for children and adolescents and linking diabetes to foot-ball was an exceptional idea. All children were eager and enthusiastic to play in their respec-tive teams and tried very hard to give all their best. All team players stood proudly before the start of the games reciting their national anthem and holding their team flag. It was indeed a show of solidarity and unity between all the participants and respect and fair play prevailed at all times. But diabetes management also played an im-portant part of the tournament – a gazebo housed various blood glucose meters and the youngsters were encouraged to test their blood sugar levels regularly. Another gazebo housed various fresh fruits which came in handy for a snack or to treat a small hypo. Water and beverages were also available in abundance. Diabetes Workshops

On Saturday afternoon various workshops fo-cusing on ‘Diabetes and Sport’ were held in multi languages to ensure that all the young-sters and their parents could participate ac-tively. The speakers, diabetologists and diabe-tes nurses, were all very well prepared and made excellent presentations that were wel-comed by the youngsters and their parents. Even though this was an educational session, the facilitators ensured that this was fun and inspiring. And they indeed performed a good job! I attended the English workshop which was addressed amongst others by Sir Steve Redgrave, an Olympic Games Medal winner and a person living with diabetes. His mes-sage was very inspiring and motivating for our youngsters – he sent a clear message

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that if you believe in something in life, diabe-tes is not an obstacle. The youngsters speak out

During the tournament I approached the various youngsters to see what the Junior Diabetes Cup really meant for them. One kid described the event as “a fantastic week-end”. Another said “It was a once in a life time experience.” A parent accompanying one of the children described the event as “a fantastic opportunity for kids with type 1 dia-betes to take part in an international tourna-ment.” One girl showed the altruism that was evi-dent during the tournament. She said “Everybody felt really relaxed and we all looked after each other, sharing sweets if we needed them.” Another child expressed his feelings that ‘…it felt good being with other children like you not worrying if you need to take your insulin or get a hypo. We were all the same!’ There was a predominant feeling with the majority of the children present – they all felt very good that they were all together living with diabetes and doing something they love most – playing football! The Rankings

One team in each category emerged as winners of the tournament. Spain won the Kids Category, Great Britain and Slovakia won the Junior and Senior categories respectively. All

the children participated actively and gave their entire utmost. The participants left the stadium as champions truly fulfilled with this inspiring and empowering experience. All the participants felt proud that they were ambassadors of their own countries in this highly organized sports event. The rankings for the first 3 places were as follows:

United for Diabetes

The Unite for Diabetes blue circle symbolizes life, mother earth and health. It also signifies unity. The 250 children and adolescents that participated at the Junior Diabetes Cup this year were truly united for Diabetes. It was an experience that brought together these youngsters from all over Europe and beyond. They were truly united for diabetes. They showed us that anybody living with diabetes can live life to the full. Chris J. Delicata President IDF Europe

Kids Juniors Seniors

1st place Spain Great Britain Slovakia

2nd place France France Great Britain

3rd place Czech

Republic Italy Spain

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The Israeli Diabetes Association has de-cided to ‘think out of the box’ for the central event in this year's Diabetes Day. The traditional events of the Diabetes Day in Israel include: a national fair pre-senting all novelties in medical treat-ment, devices and technologies, accesso-ries (like shoes and socks) and special instruments, food and beverages that bear the symbol of health. In addition, we offer free testing of HbA1c and blood glucose in our mobile lab, publishing a special journal and supporting a country-wide awareness campaign using radio, television and other means of Media. This year we decided to emphasize how people with diabetes face bravely, day-to-day, their treatment, their condition and the changes in their lives. One way to successfully cope with diabe-tes is through artistic expression. We approached all members of the Asso-ciation and asked those who are engaged in artistic creation, to send us their works. The creations that were selected by a committee will be displayed at ‘The hall of arts and music’ in the city of Raananna in the center of Israel for 2 weeks. This exhibition, accompanied by a beautiful catalog, will be opened on Dia-

betes Day and will start this year's events in the presence of the Israeli Min-ister of Health. The national fair will take place at that very same hall of arts and music and its beautiful gardens. While gathering the materials, we came upon fascinating life stories. The success of the artists strengthens our belief that people with diabetes should assume responsibility of manag-ing their diabetes in more than the medi-cal way. For example the story of Freddy Ber-covic: born in 1926 in Romania, he came to Israel in 1964 where he worked at the Israeli Air Industry as a design and pro-duction engineer until retirement in 1989. After retirement, continued to ex-ercise his expertise until 2001, when he decided to switch to para-medicine and painting. He is a volunteer at the Diabetes clinic in the Wolfson hospital (manager: Dr. Julio Weinstein, former president of the Israeli Diabetes Association). At the same time studies painting, drawing, color, perspec-tive, cartooning and composition. His style is: smile. In each painting there is a hidden signature and date challenging

his grandchildren to find it. Another example is Uri Yaffe. An ex combat-pilot of the Israeli air force and an ex captain of El-Al, who, following his retirement from flying and hi-tech business, discovered his inner artistic and emotional self, leading him to find ex-pression in art. As Uri is a very prolific creator, we will conduct a solo exhibition of his works at the municipal

Artists with diabetes

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gallery of the city of Rishon LeZion, where the of-fices of the Israeli Diabetes Association are situ-ated, under the sponsorship of the Mayor and city town-hall. Uri will offer his works for sale and all proceeds will go to the Israeli Diabetes Associa-tion for the purpose of empowering people with diabetes. Following his example, other artists joined this action.

Moti Perlmutter

• IDF Europe will celebrate the World Diabetes Day in the European Parliament on 9 and 10 of November. There will be offered the Blue Ring test, test of hae-moglobin HbA1c, a press conference and the presentation of the trailer for the Life for a Child movie, “Lifeblood”. The event will be hosted by the Marisa Ma-tias, Simon Busuttil, Sarah Lundford and Christel Schaldemose members of the EU Parliament and co-chairs of the EU Diabetes Working Group.

• On October 23, in the Hall of the Hungarian Parlia-ment in Budapest, Professor Laszlo Madacsy, for-mer member of the IDF Europe board received the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic. We wish Professor Madacsy a successful life and many more achievements in supporting the cause of diabetes.

• Barbara Young has been appointed Chief Executive at Diabetes UK. She took up the position on 1 No-vember. Barbara said: "I am thrilled to have been given this opportunity to lead Diabetes UK. There is no doubt that diabetes is one of the most important health issues facing the UK today and is a growing challenge for the future. I'm looking forward to taking on that challenge and helping to make a real difference to the lives of people with diabetes. With 2.6 million people diagnosed with diabetes and a further 500,000 who remain undi-agnosed, the work of the charity is crucial.” Professor Sir George Alberti, Chair-man of the Board of Trustees at Diabetes UK, said: "We are delighted to wel-come Barbara to Diabetes UK and we are certain that she will lead the organisa-tion to deliver our plans and objectives in improving the lives of people with dia-betes. Her vast experience will certainly bring a broad and guiding vision to the organisation."

• In the General Assembly (27 November), member associations will be presented the new Regional Director of IDF Europe.

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Campaign for early detection and awareness

The Austrian Diabetes Society launched in September its campaign for early de-tection and awareness for diabetes. The Society partnered with the Association of Austrian Pharmacists and with local mu-nicipalities in several towns in Austria. The core of this campaign is the effective poster developed by IDF in 2009 and the Finnrisk questionnaire. The posters are printed in copies that are displayed in trams and busses as well as in the phar-macies. People may choose to take the Finnrisk questionnaire in order to asses their risk to develop diabetes. If the risk is high, or if the symptoms are present they are referenced to their GP for a more thorough control.

The campaign was launched with a press conference. During the conference Prof Raimund Weitgasser, President of the Austrian Diabetes Society, presented the status of diabetes in Austria and the need to launch an awareness and early detection campaign. The campaign was also supported by the IDF Europe speaker, Cristian Andriciuc, who pre-sented the growing interest of the spe-cialists and diabetes organizations in in-creasing awareness, early detection and correct treatment of diabetes in all the

countries.

The Austrian campaign is contributing to the IDF general campaign for the World Diabetes Day, that in 2010 continues the subject of diabetes education and pre-vention in an attempt to take control of diabetes soonest.

Austria

Heart, kidney, diabetes and cancer MEP groups league against chronic dis-

ease to seek European commitment: In an unprecedented effort to bring preven-tion of chronic diseases to the top of the EU agenda, the MEP Heart Group, the MEP Group for Kidney Health, the EU Diabetes Working Group and MEPs Against Cancer organised a joint meeting on 5 October in the European Parliament, together with representatives of health professionals and health activists at European level. (…) In a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting, MEPs call upon the competent authorities in the member states to urgently develop and improve policies aiming at tackling chronic diseases. “A higher investment in prevention is needed”, stated Frieda Brepoels, “in particular by raising awareness about common risk factors and promoting healthy lifestyles”. (…) Four major health determinants - tobacco, poor diet, alcohol and lack of physical activity - account for most chronic illness and death in Europe. Please see the press release on http://www.idf.org/idf-europe-press-releases

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European Health Award 2010

Our newly formed Chronic Disease Alli-ance (CDA) has developed a European Parliamentary group to raise awareness to the risk factors of long term diseases which have causes common to all. The first meeting in the European Parliament of this group was on the 5th October. Commissioner Dalli was presented with the consensus document entitled “A Uni-fied Prevention Approach” . This has received widespread dissemina-tion and in particular support from Euro-pean Parliamentarians. As in any joint un-dertaking of this magnitude, the most im-portant task is to balance the interests of all the organisations involved. But be-cause diabetes so often results in specific conditions covered by other chronic medi-cal groups, it was in constant danger of being sidelined as merely a contributory factor in those conditions. That its profile remained as high as it is in the report is entirely due to the tireless effort and skill in compromise on the part of the team

representing European diabetes. Working with other European chronic dis-ease organisations strengthens IDF Europe's ability to raise awareness to the need for action to prevent the devastation which these conditions cause to the Euro-pean economies and individual and their families. Most recently, the CDA, won the prestig-ious European Health Forum Gastein Award 2010. IDF Europe’s contribution to this process was crucial to its success. You can read about the Award on www.ehfg.org/award.html and also download the paper, ‘A Unified Prevention Approach’ from www.idf.org/idf-europe-publications . IDF Europe was repre-sented at the European Health Forum by Ms Annemarie Bevers, member of the of the Board. Dr Michael Hall

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This year the EASD Congress was organized in Stockholm, Sweden between 20 and 24 of September.

The Congress was attended by a high number of participants from all around the world (China and India sent very numbers of partici-pants).

Certain presented topics attracted the atten-tion of the specialists. Below we present some that were mentioned after the end of the Con-gress:

• Adding Incretin to insulin lowers HbA1c • Preliminary study shows: early routine

diabetes treatment works as well as early intensive therapy

• Continuous monitors may miss hypogly-caemia

• Frequent hypoglycaemia key in cardiac risk

• Pioglitazone-Sitagliptin combination achieves durable glycaemic control

• New drug classes entering type 2 pipeline

• Once-weekly Exenatide benefit sustained over 52 weeks

• Legacy of early intensive glucose control lasts a decade

• Moderate wine drinking lowers fasting glu-cose in type 2 diabetes

• Type 2 diabetes less prevalent in women but just as deadly

As in previous years EASD offered a special place for the diabetes associations and it con-tinued to offer this display space free of charge. Several organizations from Europe were present along with IDF, IDF Europe, Life for a Child, EURADIA and ADA. The presence in the Congress allowed participants to better know each other, to find the latest news, to discuss about topics of interest and about events to come.

The 2011 Congress will be organized in Lis-bon, Portugal.

Meetings and congresses

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The EASD Congress

The Congress Centre in Stockholm

IDF Europe stand presented the prevention toolkit and the DPF programme

Russian doctors in front of the Russian Diabetes Federation stand.

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Meetings and congresses

The 12th DEPAC meeting was organized in Bled, Slovenia on 29 and 30 of Octo-ber, 2010. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Croatia and Serbia were in-vited as observers. There were invited speakers from Germany and Slovenia (Professor Helmut Hendrichs, Dr Jelka Zaletel, Dr Iztok Štotl and Vilma Urban-čič).

There were plenary and parallel ses-sions. The topics that were addressed included diabetes care in Slovenia, the use of HbA1c tests in screening and monitoring diabetes, the framework of the second DEPAC survey, an update regarding the IDF Europe lobby targets in the European Parliament, improving communication skills, the IDF Young Leaders in Diabetes Programme and po-tential cross border initiatives in the DE-PAC region.

The next DEPAC meeting will be in Kra-kow, Poland on 1 and 2 April 2011.

The 12th DEPAC meeting

Plenary session

Mr Janko Kušar, President of the Slove-nian Diabetes Association and Mr Alojz Rudolf, member of the Board of IDF

Europe

Guest speaker Professor Helmut Hendrichs, former member of the IDF Europe Board

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IDF published in September the Road-map to the UN High Level Summit on NCDs. We selected here some essential statements. IDF will contribute to the UN Summit on NCDs at three levels by: 1. Taking a leadership role within the

NCD Alliance by representing diabe-tes within the NCD Alliance. IDF’s Chief Executive Officer chairs the NCD Alliance Steering group and will hold this position until December 2011.

2. Mobilising the global diabetes com-munity as the voice of the global diabetes community, representing over 200 member associations in 160+ countries and territories. IDF will develop the diabetes specific plans, models, data and advocacy materials to feed into the UN Sum-mit on NCDs and guide action after it.

3. Driving change in the aftermath of the UN Summit as the owner of the World Diabetes Congress and World Diabetes Day communication plat-forms, IDF is in a unique position to drive change and follow up on the progress of actions initiated as an outcome of the Summit.

IDF is mobilising the global diabetes com-munity to scope a programme of diabetes specific work that will aim to: • strengthen and unify the global dia-

betes movement for the short and long term

• further raise awareness of diabetes amongst the general public and pol-icy makers, building on the founda-tion of UN Resolution 61/225 on dia-betes

• strengthen the diabetes evidence base, including knowledge of cost effective solutions, as a basis for strong policy making

• create the diabetes plans and mod-els to form the essential foundation for the follow up work that will be required after the September 2011 Summit

• ensure diabetes is prominent within NCDs and broader global health pol-icy

The UN Summit on NCDs is a once in a generation opportunity to put diabetes and the other NCDs on the global agenda and leverage commitments that will stem an epidemic which is destroying millions of lives. IDF was one of the original voices calling for a UN Summit on NCDs. We saw such a Summit building on the global rec-ognition of diabetes expressed in 2006 by UN Resolution 61/225 on diabetes. A strong platform of agreements from this Summit will enable the world to measure progress at global and national levels on action to turn around the NCD epidemic. The countdown to the UN Summit has be-gun, we have just one year to prepare for the Summit putting us under pressure to produce and package the arguments, evi-dence and solutions. IDF and its members have raised awareness of the diabetes problem, now we have an opportunity to market our solutions. The global diabetes community needs to mount a visible and coherent campaign to ensure diabetes needs and priorities get onto the global agenda. IDF has legitimacy and the ca-pacity to lead such a movement for the Summit and drive strong outcomes for diabetes. We need your support.

The NCD Alliance

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AUSTRIA “Walking is the best medicine“, said Hip-pocrates already 2400 years ago. Moder-ate exercise is the best prevention and therapy of type 2 diabetes. It`s never too late to take the first step into the right direction. This year`s 5th Austrian Diabetes Society (ÖDG) Nordic City Walk´s motto is “Together against Diabetes”. In coopera-tion with the Austrian Sports Union and the Austrian Nordic Walking Organiza-tion, the ÖDG organizes the popular Nor-dic Walking Event in the Viennese Prater and in Salzburg, Klagenfurt, Eisenstadt, Purgstall, Gmunden, Schwaz, Rankweil. “We are very glad about the rising popu-larity of the Nordic City Walk, that has become a fixed date for many patients in autumn”, says Prof Bernhard Ludvik. “Nordic Walking, the popular trend sport is an effective whole body training for everybody and every age. For this rea-son, Nordic walking is suitable for the prevention of this chronic metabolic dis-ease. As several studies have proven, diabetic patients can effectively reduce their weight. Furthermore Nordic Walking can prevent or at least slow down the de-velopment of type 2 diabetes. For further information see: www.oedg.org

ROMANIA The Romanian Federation of Diabetes had its annual Congress on September, in Cluj-Napoca. The Congress offered the diabetes community the occasion to ad-dress medical, nursing, educational or organizational matters. The event was set back to back with the xx meeting of the Danube Diabetes Association. Patient organizations from all the country dis-cussed how the economic crisis impacts the implementation of the National Dia-betes programme and hosted a meeting with representatives of the Health Insur-ance House.

In one of the plenary sessions there was presented the document of the European Chronic Diseases Alliance ‘A unified pre-vention approach’ that was forwarded to the EU Commission in June and that trig-gered the establishment of a united working group within the European Par-liament (October). BULGARIA The Bulgarian Diabetes (Patients) Asso-ciation planned for a long list of activities in October and November to celebrate

From our members

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Chaussée de La Hulpe, 166-C3 B-1170, Brussels, Belgium

Phone: +32 25371889 Fax: +32 25371981 E-mail: newsletter@idf-europe.org

International Diabetes Federation - European Region

the european diabetes newsletter is an in-ternal publication edited by IDF Europe using the contributions of the member organizations and collaborators. If you would like to contrib-ute with articles or news to our newsletter please write to Cristian Andriciuc, External Rela-tions coordinator cristian@idf-europe.org

For comments or more information about IDF Europe activities please contact us at one of the address posted.

the World Diabetes Day. Out of this list we mention here the ‘field day’ dedi-cated to games and sport activities out-doors, the ‘walk of health’ and the ‘dietetic kitchen for people in poor social conditions’. The field day took place on 30 October. Pictures and comments will follow in future issues of the newsletter. TURKEY This year the Turkish Diabetes Foundation (TURKDIAB) participated to the 32 International Istanbul EURASIA Marathon on 16 October 2010 at the ‘Free 8 km Fun Run’ category. About 100.000 people joined the whole event. The Free Fun Run started on the Asian end of the Bosphorus Bridge. The diabetes group walked in blue across the bridge to the European side of Istanbul. They carried

• Beginning in November, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) will be converting the Countdown magazine to an online publication and dis-continuing the print edition. As part of this change, JDRF will also incorporate the Research Frontline e-newsletter into the new online Countdown.

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placards with mottos for diabetes mainly its prevention. Many of the participants who had also joined the Intercontinental Diabetes Walk in 1997 took pictures at the same locations for remembrance . The event was widely covered by the media.