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Dear IPSFers,

Diabetes and healthy living awareness has been spreading

throughout the world since the WHO declared the
1 Introduction 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
World Diabetes interest in this disease and healthy living is due to its
Day in... 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
2 Tunisia 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
6 Egypt 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
8 Serbia 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
9 Malta 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.

11 In the And now let's see what happened!!!!

World
sa
Fedaa Mous in g and Diabete
s
a lt h y li v
IPSF He rdinator 201
0-11
n e s s C o o
Aware
 World Diabetes Day in
Tunisia
Organizing association: ATEP (Association Tunisienne des Etudiants en Pharmacie)
Activity Chairperson: Ines Harzallah

Date(s) and time of the activity: 12th – 13th – 14th November 2010
Location(s) of the activity: 1st Day: In the Hebdomadal Market Place
2nd and 3rd Day: In the Central Market Place
Number and type of target audience: 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 Station 2: Waist measuring
(BMI and Waist measurement).
Station 3: BMI calculation.
 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: Egypt
Activity Chairperson: Dr. Amro Tarek Aly

Date(s) and time of the activity: 12th – 13th – 14th November 2010
Location(s) of the activity: Khadejah bint khowaild School in Alexandria
Number and type of target audience: 38 students between grade 6 and 8
Number of students taking part in the activity: 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: NAPSer
Activity Chairpersons: Andela Lazic, Nina Bukumirovic

Date and time of the activity: 16th – 19th November 2010

Location(s) of the activity: Pharmacies in Nis and the Faculty of Medicine
Number and type of target audience: Passersby
Number of students taking part in the activity: 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: MPSA – Malta Pharmaceutical Students’ Association
Activity Chairperson: 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.