Newsletter 87 - Diabetes

--Dear IPSFers,

1

Introduction

World Diabetes Day in...

2

Tunisia

6

Egypt

8

Serbia

9

Malta

11

In the World

Diabetes and healthy living awareness has been spreading throughout the world since the WHO declared the fourteenth of November as (removed the) World Diabetes Day (WDD). Diabetes is one of the leading diseases in the 20th century. It doesn’t differentiate between categories of people; it could affect the young or the elderly, males or females, the ignorant or the well educated. The increasing interest in this disease and healthy living is due to its complications, which can affect a variety of different organs and systems in the human body.

That’s why IPSF is a strong advocate of diabetes awareness, and its members have played a strong role in sharing the medical and scientific knowledge they have with the public. Students from all around the world have raised their voices to “Bring Diabetes to Light”, and to help prevent its complications, which have become more prevalent over the years. Although the associations contributing to this campaign are from different countries, continents and cultures, they all share one aim and noble purpose, which is to raise the level of world awareness and interest in this public health issue. Participants gathered in different places from all over the world and carried out the campaigns on WDD. The IPSF team has been committed to spreading public health awareness. The public health subcommittee has worked hard to deliver the message by gathering information, choosing a slogan, putting the Diabetes and Healthy Living kit together and sharing it with the different organizations, as well as following the great campaigns done all over the world.

And now let's see what happened!!!!

sa s Fedaa Mous and Diabete g in v li y h lt a 0-11 IPSF He rdinator 201 o o C s s e n Aware

World Diabetes Day in Tunisia Organizing association: Activity Chairperson:

ATEP (Association Tunisienne des Etudiants en Pharmacie) Ines Harzallah

Date(s) and time of the activity: Location(s) of the activity: Number and type of target audience:

12th – 13th – 14th November 2010 1st Day: In the Hebdomadal Market Place 2nd and 3rd Day: In the Central Market Place Nearly 300 people came to get tested each day.

Aims: - Diabetes screening (by measuring blood sugar level) - Making people aware of the importance of healthy living to avoid diabetes Methods and tools/materials used: -Campaign -Leaflet -La Gazette, This is a mini booklet containing some recent news and research.

-Bringing Diabetes to Light :

World Diabetes Day in Tunisia Campaign: They set up a tent and decorated it with posters about healthy living from the Public Health Ministry and some handmade posters created by members of their Public Health Committee showing WDD and the slogans they came up with for the campaign.

Patients were each given a leaflet that showed the symptoms and risk factors of diabetes (taken from the WDD materials). Their blood glucose measurement was written on the leaflet.

The tent contained different stations :

TStation 1 Measurement of the height and weight According to medical researchers, visceral fat is associated with liver problems, insulin resistance, and heart attacks. It has recently been promoted as a valuable public health tool, perhaps more valuable than the body mass index (BMI).

During the campaign they used both of them (BMI and Waist measurement).

Station 3: BMI calculation.

Station 2: Waist measuring

World Diabetes Day in Tunisia

Station 4: Blood sugar level measuring Station 5: Counseling by pharmacy interns In addition sweets which are sugar free were given to the audience Station 6: Distribution of sugar-free sweets

The Leaflet and La Gazette

World Diabetes Day in Tunisia Bringing Diabetes to Light The Ribat is a fortress in Monastir. The students chose this iconic monument to be lit in blue. This idea goes along with the WDD concept of “bringing diabetes to light”. Making the Ribat blue was a great experience for the students. Not only did they have a lot of fun (they even played ou ayayaya atchika atchika atchik after climbing the fortress tower) but this act also meant a lot to them, it was a tribute to all those suffering from diabetes.

Results: Even though people were doing their shopping, they really didn’t mind stopping by since the campaign wasn’t held on workdays.

Some people suffering from diabetes came to get tested and they found out that their blood glucose level wasn’t under control. The students had to ask them if they were having medical follow-ups and check if they were taking their medication correctly.

Bringing Diabetes to Light Many of the participants said that it was a great experience talking to people about their health, “to be in the field” and to get the chance to practice what they had learned from their lectures.

Comments and/or ideas arising from the activity: The activity was a success for our committee. It’s the greatest campaign we ever had. Lighting a monument in blue may be a very memorable experience not only for the organisers but also for the community. People liked the activity we conducted. They really loved finding free measurements and qualified people they could talk to and ask questions.

World Diabetes Day in Egypt Organizing association: Activity Chairperson:

Egypt Dr. Amro Tarek Aly

Date(s) and time of the activity: Location(s) of the activity: Number and type of target audience: Number of students taking part in the activity:

12th – 13th – 14th November 2010 Khadejah bint khowaild School in Alexandria 38 students between grade 6 and 8 3 pharmacy student

Aims: Their target was to spread a general knowledge about healthy living and encourage young teenagers to understand the concept of healthy living and apply it to their daily life. In addition they enlightened them about volunteering.

Methods and tools/materials used: To achieve this, they put together a presentation on the importance of healthy living for a group of students at a school in Alexandria. The students found the part about the diet pyramid to be the most interesting as most of their questions were focused on the healthy and unhealthy food and drinks. The volunteers found it very interesting and they were impressed by the results that they saw. They also invited other pharmacy students to help them in upcoming events, and they are all working on their application to be an individual member in IPSF so that they can better serve public health.

World Diabetes Day in Egypt

World Diabetes Day in Serbia Organizing association: Activity Chairpersons:

NAPSer Andela Lazic, Nina Bukumirovic

Date and time of the activity: Location(s) of the activity: Number and type of target audience: Number of students taking part in the activity:

16th – 19th November 2010 Pharmacies in Nis and the Faculty of Medicine Passersby 19 pharmacy students

Aims: Providing more information about risk factors for the disease, proper diet and how to live with diabetes.

Methods and used tools/materials: Distribution of flyers in front of the pharmacy to patients and passers-by and contact information for professionals for people who already have diabetes. Considering the fact that volunteers were recently graduated students, they were available for all the questions and were able to respond due to their knowledge of pathophysiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. Since a large waist circumstance increases the risk of getting diabetes, the volunteers were measuring waist circumference.

Results: Campaign was successful in that it covered most of the population. Students were invited through the NiPSA group on Facebook with the information and mail address to use to apply if they are interested in volunteering. .

Key points of organisation: In cooperation with the Pharmacy Institution, Nis agreed that their volunteers would be in front of the pharmacy everyday with educational materials. On November 18th, a lecture was scheduled at the faculty. It was given by the professor of endocrinology, Dr. Dragan Dimic who agreed two weeks in advance.

World Diabetes Day in Malta Organizing association: Activity Chairperson:

MPSA – Malta Pharmaceutical Students’ Association Sara Jo Cassar

Date(s) and time of the activity: 9th, 13th, 14th November 2010 Location(s) of the activity: on campus; promenade, Bugibba Number of students taking part in the activity: about 100 Aims: · To emphasize the importance of incorporating exercise in the management of diabetes · To raise awareness about this silent killer among the public Methods and used tools/materials: · Banner with slogan · Posters (IPSF) · Bookmarks – we made them ourselves · Leaflets – provided by the Health Promotion Department · Glucose testing kits – provided by a sponsor Results: · All pharmacy students enjoyed the events and learned more about the condition and it’s management, especially the first year students. · Students also learned how to use the blood glucose monitoring kit, something that is not taught in classes. · The public showed interest in the events, we had quite a good turn out.

Key points of organisation: Advertisement of the activity: Facebook, emails, by word of mouth Background: Malta has the highest incidence of diabetes in the EU, 10 percents of the Maltese population suffer from diabetes. Thus MPSA organized this awareness campaign to mark World Diabetes Day.

World Diabetes Day in Malta Date: Tuesday 9th November 2010 The Malta Pharmaceutical Students’ Association kicked off its public awareness campaign for diabetes at the university quadrangle. Students from all faculties were invited to take part in the formation of a human circle. This event was supported by MMSA (Malta Medical Students’ Association). For this event participants dressed in blue.

Date: Saturday 13th November 2010 Pharmacy students were given the option to walk or run a few kilometres to pass on the message that exercise is important in the management of diabetes.

The finishing point was a stand in a square, where we put up a water station for all participants. Participants wore a blue top/jumper for this event.

At the stand, attendees and the general public were given the opportunity to test their blood glucose level, their BMI and also receive information about lifestyle approaches and diabetes in general. The attendees were also shown how to use a blood glucose monitoring kit, how to interpret the results and how to implement lifestyle changes for each individual case. Everyone was invited to join and support our cause!

Date: Sunday 14th November 2010 A workshop carried out by Professor Lilian M. Azzopardi took place in order to tackle the pharmacotherapy that is involved with this disease. Attendees participated actively by discussing drugs chosen and looking into their different properties.

Diabetes Day in the World Examples of different activities that were done: -Short learning sessions -Lectures -Workshops -Testing blood glucose levels -Calculating BMI -Camps -Wearing the colour blue -People stood in a circle to make a blue ring -Building awareness tents -Broadcasting information on radio stations -Participating in the' Fight Diabetes Celebrations'

Materials Used: -IPSF Diabetes and Healthy Living kit -IPSF website : www.ipsf.org -IPSF database -Fliers -Posters -Banners -Educational sessions -Booklets

Some of The Participating Organizations: -ATEP : Tunisia -EPSF : Egypt -LPSA : Latvia -MPSA : Malta -NIPSA : Serbia -Young Pharmacy : Poland -ASPSA : Egypt

Special Thanks to: Public health committee chairperson Diabetes and Healthy Living subcommittee members for their great cooperation and help, spending so much time working on this campaign and for BRINGING DIABETES TO LIGHT. Different organizations that carried on the effort of spreading the awareness.