World Diabetes Day (WDD) is marked annually on 14th November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.
The campaign aims to drive global efforts to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.
The theme for WDD 2021-23 is: Access to Diabetes Care – If Not Now, When?
Diabetes is a serious, potentially debilitating and life-threatening non-communicable disease that affects individuals and their families. Without adequate support, people with type 2 diabetes are at risk of serious and life-threatening complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and lower-limb amputation.
Gibraltar is said to be facing a “diabetes crisis”, with around one in four people aged over 55 having been diagnosed with diabetes. Registered local charity ‘Diabetes Gibraltar’ highlight there are around 3000 people currently registered with type 2 diabetes on the Rock. Sedentary lifestyles and poor diet greatly influencing this growing number…
Recent studies also indicate that people living with diabetes are susceptible to the worst complications of Covid-19; particularly those aged over 65 years and those with uncontrolled diabetes.
Services in Gibraltar include:
• The GHA Diabetes Clinic at the Primary Care Centre.
• Diabetes Gibraltar (Email: diabetesgib@gmail.com, Tel: 20072420)
Join Diabetes Gibraltar for their awareness event on Saturday 13th November outside the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned from 10am -2pm. A walk has also been organised on Sunday 14th starting at 11am from Casemates – registration for the walk can be done online though Diabetes Gibraltar or from 9:30 am on the day.
Funds raised will go toward purchasing of a clinic based HbA1c analyser, which will allow children to have their three monthly blood sugar control checked with a finger prick, rather than having a regular blood test.
