General Facts
Today, more than 240 million people worldwide are living with diabetes. Within 20 years, this number is expected to grow to 380 million. Children are not spared from this global epidemic, with its debilitating and life-threatening complications.
On December 20, 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a landmark Resolution recognising diabetes as a chronic, debilitating and costly disease. The Resolution designates World Diabetes Day as a United Nations Day to be observed every year starting in 2007. This, the UN Resolution, makes World Diabetes Day stronger than ever and provides the opportunity for a significant increase in the visibility of the campaign and an increase in government and media participation, on or around November 14. The Resolution will ensure even greater reach for awareness-raising activities throughout the diabetes world.
Diabetes in Children
It can strike children at any age and is often or diagnosed late, or it is misdiagnosed completely. In many parts of the world, insulin, the main life-saving medication that children with diabetes need to survive, is not available (due to lack of income or availability). As a consequence, many children die of diabetes, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Family, friends, school staff and even the family doctor may not be aware of the ominous signs for this disease. Due to this misfortune, the World Diabetes Day campaigns for 2007 and 2008 set out to challenge this, firmly establishing the message that “no child should die of diabetes”. Thus the theme for this year’s World Diabetes Day campaign is “Diabetes in Children and Adolescents”.
Diabetes has a unique impact on children and their families. The daily life of children is disrupted by the need to monitor blood glucose levels, take medication, and balance the effect of activity and food. Diabetes can interfere with the normal developmental tasks of childhood and adolescence, which include succeeding in school and transitioning to adulthood. To help the child and family cope, and to ensure the best possible physical and emotional health of the child, care should be delivered by a multidisciplinary team with good knowledge of paediatric issues. Support must also be given to caregivers and to school personnel. In this way, children with type 1 or type 2 diabetes can reach adulthood with as little adverse impact as possible on their well-being. For children with diabetes in developing countries the situation at present is bleak.