The people issue - International Diabetes Federation

Diabetes views
Going for gold!
Diabetes Voice is so
named because it
is intended to give
a voice to people
with diabetes
across the world. In this special issue we have tried to interpret our
mission very literally and many of our pages are filled by people’s
own accounts of their life with diabetes. The fact that diabetes
means different things to different people comes across clearly in
these accounts – and reading between the lines of the inspirational
articles we feel privileged to be publishing this time, it is also clear
that for everyone living with the condition, diabetes is always, to
some extent, something of a struggle. The inspiration comes from
how robustly all our authors, in different ways, have addressed that
struggle – and won.
At the time of writing, London is just resuming normal business
after the very successful Olympic and Paralympic competitions. Even
your editor-in-chief, not best known for any sporting proclivities,
and initially very cynical about how well her home town might cope,
became infected with the Olympic spirit and shouted enthusiastically
(if ineffectually) to encourage the athletes as they raced about on her
television set! London has never looked so good as it did over the
two fortnights of the competitions. Many of you will have read of
the army of volunteers that greeted, directed and helped our visitors
and were so much a part of the celebrations, and some of you may
have been lucky enough to attend an event and cheer your own
country’s athletes to a place among the winners. For a few precious
moments, the world was able to put aside its differences, as athletes
and spectators from many different cultures rubbed shoulders to
celebrate individual achievements within the Olympic family.
I like to think of IDF as being a bit like that family. In paper after
paper submitted to Diabetes Voice, we learn how people from
different backgrounds, working together, go out to conquer another
stage of the diabetes challenge, in different parts of the world. With
IDF’s support, a project can be started, its results analyzed and
publicized – and, if successful, other members of IDF can learn
about it and try it too. In this issue, we hear early stories from the
IDF/Chinese Diabetes Society 3C Project. A country that has one
of the largest populations of people with type 2 diabetes 1 is also
trying to tackle the care of its people with type 1 diabetes. The
stories reported show the enormity of the challenges facing people
with type 1 diabetes and the healthcare systems trying to support
them, and will find echoes in many other parts of the globe. We look
forward to the next stages of the programme, which will start to look
at how better to address the type 1 population’s needs. Meanwhile,
on page 26, from the other side of the world, a multifaceted project
is beginning to turn the tide of type 2 diabetes for another of the
world’s older civilizations. We are delighted also to include in this
issue also the story of how our animal friends are training to help
people whose diabetes sadly has been associated with particular
disabilities. On page 39, Lee Stanway describes the development
of alert dogs that not only can help with severe visual impairment
but also provide some defence against hypoglycaemia.
But it is the individual stories that make this special issue of Diabetes
Voice particularly special. From Portugal, a message to young people
with diabetes to young people with diabetes (page 19); on page 29,
perhaps particularly poignant at this post-Olympiad time, a man who
has achieved sporting excellence while living with type 1 diabetes
throws his support behind children with diabetes whose dreams for
diabetes have yet to be fulfilled; and on page 11, Bakary Coulibaly
describes how he has been inspired by his personal experience of
diabetes to undertake a career to help others with the condition in
future – and how he himself has been helped by the human kindness
of family and teachers along his way.
The stories we present are every bit as inspirational as those of the
competitors for the titles of the world’s best athletes in London
this summer. Like those athletes, we, the people with diabetes and
the communities that can help them, have to work constantly to
achieve our aims. This Diabetes Voice presents some of the steps
being taken towards our too achieving gold.
1
Whiting D. The implications of the new Chinese prevalence study. Diabetes Voice
2010; 1: 52-4.
Stephanie A Amiel is the RD Lawrence
Professor of Diabetic Medicine at
King's College London and Consultant
physician to diabetes services at
King's College Hospital, UK.
October 2012 • Volume 57 • Special Issue 1
DiabetesVoice
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