Blue monuments for World Diabetes Day

More than 400 monuments and iconic buildings have already confirmed participation in November. They include Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, Table Mountain in South Africa, the London Eye in the United Kingdom, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Tokyo Tower in Japan and many more. Across Japan close to 60 monuments will light in blue; 82 will light in Argentina, 34 in Kazakhstan and 21 in the USA.

Ahead of World Diabetes Day, IDF president Professor Jean Claude Mbanya called for increased health promotion and political action in the face of the epidemic. “Diabetes is claiming millions of lives each year,” he said. “It is ravaging communities and threatening economies. We must improve care and stop the many millions at risk from developing the disease.”

Promoting diabetes awareness

Pieter Cloete, marketing manager of Go Life Health Products, together with Abbott, the Community Pharmacist Sector (CPS) of the PSSA and Diabetes SA, have decided to actively promote diabetes awareness in South Africa during the month of November, which is international Diabetes Awareness Month. During this month, 14 November will also be highlighted as World Diabetes Day.

One of their initiatives will be to light the well-known Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria in blue in tandem with sponsorship from Osram, who will provide the lights needed to turn the Voortrekker Monument into a “blue beacon for diabetes awareness.”

In addition to the lightings, hundreds of events will take place worldwide to mark the day; from free individual diabetes testing, to regional events such as the Pan-African meeting in Mauritius that will see the launch of an African Declaration on diabetes.

For more information on Diabetes and the Go Buddy project visit www.diabetssa.co.za and www.golifebuddy.co.za