¨
Every year on 14
November, World Diabetes Day is celebrated.
¨
The day raises awareness
of diabetes as a global public health issue.
¨
The theme of World
Diabetes Day 2025 is ‘Diabetes across life stages.’
¨
It is also observed to
mark the birth anniversary of Sir Frederick Banting.
¨
He discovered the insulin
hormone along with Charles Herbert Best in 1922.
¨
In 1991, World Diabetes
Day was first celebrated by the International Diabetes Federation and the World
Health Organization to raise awareness about diabetes.
¨
In 2006, the United
Nations officially recognized World Diabetes Day.
¨
On the occasion of World
Diabetes Day, the World Health Organization's South-East Asia Region has
renewed its call for urgent and coordinated action to tackle the growing burden
of diabetes.
¨
Diabetes now affects more
than 279 million adults in the region, nearly a third of the global total.
¨
Across the region, only
one in three adults with diabetes receives treatment, and less than 15% are
able to adequately control their blood sugar.
Diabetes
¨
It is a chronic disease,
which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the
body cannot effectively use the insulin.
¨
This leads to an
increased concentration of glucose in the blood.
¨
Insulin is a hormone that
regulates blood glucose.
¨
Type 1 diabetes cannot be
prevented but can be well managed, while the risk of type 2 diabetes can be
reduced by exercise, a healthy diet, and avoiding tobacco and alcohol.
