newsletter 87 - diabetes

Dear IPSFers,

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!!!!

Fedaa Moussa

IPSF Healthy living and

Diabetes

Awareness Coordinato

r 2010-11

---

1 Introduction

World DiabetesDay in...

2 Tunisia

6 Egypt

8 Serbia

9 Malta

11 In theWorld

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 :

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 :


Tunisia

Station 2: Waist measuring

TStation 1 Measurement of the height and

weight

Station 3: BMI calculation.

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).


Tunisia

Station 4: Blood sugar level measuringStation 5: Counseling by pharmacy interns

In addition sweets

which are sugar

free were given to

the audience

The Leaflet and La Gazette

Station 6: Distribution of sugar-free sweets

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.

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.


Tunisia

Bringing Diabetes to Light


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.


Egypt


SerbiaOrganizing 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.


MaltaOrganizing 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.


MaltaDate: 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 WorldExamples 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.

newsletter 87 - diabetes

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