World Diabetes Day, celebrated annually on November 14, was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization in response to the threat of increasing diabetes throughout the world.
Since 2007, World Diabetes Day has been held under the auspices of the UN (resolution A/RES/61/225). The document recognizes the urgent need to continue multilateral efforts to protect and promote human health and ensure access to treatment services and health education«.
Today it is the world's largest disease awareness campaign, reaching more than 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. And November 14 was chosen in connection with the perpetuation of the merits of the Canadian doctor and physiologist Frederick Bunting, born on this day in 1891, who, together with doctor Charles Best, played a decisive role in the discovery in 1922 of insulin —, a medicine that saves the lives of people with diabetes.
Diabetes — is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body is unable to effectively use the insulin it produces. This leads to elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycaemia).
In January 1922, young Canadian scientist Frederick Banting saved his life for the first time in history by injecting insulin into a 14-year-old boy suffering from severe juvenile diabetes. Instead of obtaining a patent for insulin and subsequently becoming fabulously rich, Bunting transfers all rights to the University of Toronto. Subsequently, the rights to produce insulin passed to the Canadian Medical Research Council, and at the end of 1922 the new drug appeared on the drug market. The discovery of Frederick Bunting and his colleague Charles Best saved the lives of millions of people.
In 1923, recognizing the first great achievement of the 20th century in biochemistry and medicine, Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize. Best's merits were ignored, which greatly hurt Bunting, and he voluntarily awarded half of his Nobel Prize to Best.
For many centuries, people did not know the means to fight this disease, and the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus« left the patient no hope not only for recovery, but also for life: without insulin » of this hormone, which ensures the absorption of glucose by tissues, the sick body cannot exist and is doomed to slow extinction. And although diabetes is still incurable, thanks to insulin people have learned to keep this disease under control. And the successes of scientists in the field of diabetes in recent years allow us to be optimistic about solving the problems caused by diabetes.
After all, today diabetes mellitus, like atherosclerosis and cancer, is one of the three diseases that most often lead to disability and death. It is characterized by a steady increase in blood glucose levels, can occur at any age and lasts a lifetime. A distinction is made between type I diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent) and type II diabetes mellitus (non-insulin-dependent).
Type II diabetes is largely the result of excess weight, and simple measures to maintain a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition are effective in preventing it (Photo: sacura, licensed from Shutterstock.com)
According to WHO, diabetes increases mortality in the population by 2-3 times and reduces life expectancy. In addition, the relevance of the problem is also due to the scale of spread of this disease. It is estimated that 537 million adults worldwide currently suffer from diabetes, up from 108 million in 1980. And every year the number of cases increases. According to the Ministry of Health and Rosstat, in 2020, 410.5 thousand cases of diabetes were registered in Russia for the first time, and in total there are about 4.8 million diabetics in the country.
A particularly catastrophic increase in incidence is associated with type II diabetes, which accounts for more than 85% of all cases and is largely the result of excess weight and physical inertia. By the way, simple measures to maintain a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition are effective for its prevention.
Every year, through the work of the International Diabetes Federation, World Diabetes Day reaches millions of people around the world and brings together diabetic societies in 160 countries to raise awareness of diabetes and its complications. The UN General Assembly, in its resolution, invites Member States to develop national programs to combat diabetes and care for people with this disease.
Each year, a specific theme of the Day is approved, directly related to persons with diabetes. At the same time, IDF does not seek to concentrate all its efforts on one-day promotions, but distributes activity throughout the year. Thus, the themes of the Day over the years were the words: «The problem of diabetes goes into the world», «Diabetes: the problem of all ages and all countries», «Diabetes and aging», «The price of ignorance», «Insulin for life», «Diabetes and human rights», «Diabetes can cost you kidneys. Act immediately!», «The fight against obesity prevents diabetes», «Diabetes: help — everyone!», «Diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents», «Diabetes, education and prevention», «Healthy lifestyle and diabetes», «Family and diabetes», «Nurse and diabetes», «Access to diabetes treatment — if not now, then when?» and others.
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