World Diabetes Day

On June 26th, during Day One of 2030 In Sight Live in Mexico City, IAPB launched the Spanish language version of the joint Policy Brief on Diabetic Retinopathy authored together with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The launch was accompanied by a debate on terminology: should we be using the term “diabetic retinopathy” or the collective “diabetic eye conditions”?
You can read about the debate in our collection of articles for World Diabetes Day. No matter which side you think wins, one certainty remains: the IAPB’s focus on greater advocacy for DR – the fastest growing course of avoidable blindness – remains as strong as ever.

In the past two months we held two significant events:
Firstly, on the side-lines of the Euretina Conference in Barcelona, we held an event to launch a Call to Action for European policy makers to take a seminal step in the fight against eye conditions caused by diabetes. You can read the call to action here. The event, supported by our partners at Abbvie, brought together policy makers and IAPB members from several European countries, including Spain, Italy and Slovenia. It highlighted that there is collective will to elevate the discussion in Europe and drive policy change.

Later in October, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was held in Samoa with a health-related agenda that focussed on non-Communicable diseases (NCDS). A significant issue in the Pacific Islands, NCDs include diabetes – and of course, we are well aware of the impact that diabetes has on sight! So too were our guests at an event in Apia, Samoa’s capital where the Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister made the link between healthy living and good eyesight.

As we head into World Diabetes Day, we have plans in place for pilot advocacy activities in countries as varied as PNG and Paraguay. Plus, the IAPB DR Work Group is preparing for another busy year of activity. Stay tuned to see more of our advocacy in action.