The support of a majority of the member states will be required to pass a United Nations Resolution on diabetes. The global petition is a way to engage diabetes activists worldwide to alert their national governments to the serious nature of diabetes and encourage support for a UN Resolution to help tackle the epidemic.

President-Elect of the International Diabetes Federation Professor Martin Silink leads the campaign. He urged people to sign the online petition and pass the diabetes pin in the name of all those living with diabetes. “Together we can slow down the advance of diabetes and even reverse the current trends. A United Nations Resolution on diabetes will help bring this silent killer out of the shadows.”

About the campaign
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is the lead sponsor for the Resolution on diabetes. The Resolution encourages UN Member States to develop national policies for the treatment, care and prevention of diabetes within the sustainable development of their healthcare systems and asks for a UN-observed World Diabetes Day on 14 November starting in 2007. The ‘Unite for Diabetes’ campaign asks all nations to support the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and vote in favour of a UN Resolution on diabetes.

The campaign encourages everyone to show support for the Resolution by signing a global petition and by forwarding a virtual diabetes pin to friends and family, and in turn inviting them to show the same support. The diabetes pin takes the form of a blue circle in the colour of the UN flag. It is the logo for the ‘Unite for Diabetes’ campaign and is a tribute to the millions of people living with diabetes worldwide.

About diabetes
Diabetes is devastating communities around the world. More than 230 million people now live with a disease that kills over 3.5 million people each year. Despite the growing numbers and threat to life, many remain ignorant. Each year 7 million people get diabetes, joining the more than 230 million people now living with the disease. Diabetes kills more people each year than HIV/AIDS and impacts all nations, rich and poor.

Bangladesh is expected to be among the top 10 countries with the largest number of people with diabetes. Today 3.8 million people live with diabetes in the country. This is expected to rise to 7.4 million by 2025. Bangladesh is not the only country to face such an overwhelming increase in the number of people with diabetes. The disease is expected to affect more than 350 million people globally within the next two decades if nothing is done.

The world needs a UN Resolution on diabetes. While the problem is global, its full dimension and impact remain unrecognized, particularly in the world’s low- and middle-income nations. For these countries, cheap life-saving treatments are available and would be easy to distribute, but are rarely used. At the same time, much can be done to prevent diabetes in those at risk. The unified voice of the whole United Nations is needed to impress these facts upon the world.

“Diabetes is an enormous problem with devastating consequences worldwide. It likely affects someone you know and love. It is a leading cause of blindness, amputation, heart attack, stroke and often a premature death. Yet it is too often dismissed as something trivial: a touch of sugar. Diabetes is not trivial; there is no such thing as mild diabetes.” said Professor Silink. “We owe it to future generations to spare them from the severe humanitarian, social and economic burden of diabetes.”