The Voortrekker Monument will be lit up in blue for the month of November to honour world diabetes day and all who suffer from the condition.
World diabetes day (WDD) is a global awareness campaign focusing on diabetes awareness that is held annually on November 14, with the month of November being labelled diabetes awareness month.
The day itself marks the birthday of Nobel prize winner, Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best and JJ Rickard Macleod, discovered insulin in 1922 to treat people with type 1 diabetes. Prior to 1922, a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was an agonising death sentence for all.
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WDD was launched in 1991 by the international diabetes federation (IDF) and the world health organisation (WHO). World diabetes day is now commemorated each year by about 230 IDF members associations in more than 160 countries and territories, as well as by other organisations, companies, healthcare professionals, politicians, celebrities, and people living with diabetes and their families.
While awareness about diabetes is important, lack of access to insulin and proper healthcare is the number one cause of death for people living with diabetes worldwide. In 2014, the non-profit organisation T1International launched the #insulin4all campaign to unite the diabetes community as a global force standing together to fight for access to diabetes supplies, care, and treatment for everyone.
The campaign grows bigger each year in addition to the annual WDD theme related to diabetes. This year’s world diabetes day theme is diabetes and the family.
The Blue Monument challenge
The “Blue Monument Challenge” was launched in 2007 to mark the first United Nations observed world diabetes day. Blue is the official colour for diabetes and since then more than 1 000 iconic sites and buildings in 84 countries have lit up in blue to raise diabetes awareness on November 14 and in the weeks leading up to the day.
Some of the sites and buildings lit up in blue include Empire State Building, Belfast city hall UK, Brisbane city hall, Sears tower, Blackpool tower UK, Niagara Falls, CN tower in Toronto, Canada; Sydney Opera House; The London Eye, Table Mountain, Cape Town.
The main objective is to draw attention to the increased efforts to understand and manage diabetes through education and prevention; to highlight important issues about diabetes; encourage the public to get screened for diabetes; and to emphasise the fact that this “silent killer” can be managed and treated with the right access, and in some cases prevented.
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