World Diabetes Day 2024: Making Diabetes Easier, together!

World Diabetes Day is fast approaching and this year the overall theme is Diabetes and well-being, focusing on the care and support for people living with diabetes.

We will be launching a brilliant campaign across our social channels, highlighting the essential role of caregivers for people with Type 1. It emphasizes the importance of daily support from friends or family members, showing the small gestures they do to help ease life with diabetes for loved ones.

This campaign will run throughout November with a series of short videos illustrating 3 scenarios where small gestures really mean the world to someone with Type 1.

What is World Diabetes Day?

World Diabetes Day is an important date for the global health community, broadening awareness and progressing the conversation about living with diabetes. World Diabetes Day is on 14 November 2024. 

World Diabetes Day was first created in 1991 through the joint efforts of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in response to the rising numbers of people living with diabetes around the world.¹ It was intended as an international campaign to raise awareness about this increasingly common condition.¹

World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 and has been the world's biggest awareness campaign for all diabetes types.¹ Today, it reaches an audience of approximately 1 billion people worldwide.¹

Why is World Diabetes Day important?

According to recent estimates, 1 in 10, or 537 million adults, are currently living with diabetes globally.² There are also 1.2 million children and teenagers affected by type 1 diabetes. These numbers are only expected to increase in future years.²

In this context, raising global awareness is all the more important. This is why the past editions of World Diabetes Day have covered important ground, ensuring that:⁴

• People learn about the differences between the types of diabetes
• People learn and understand more about type 1 diabetes, reducing stigma and improving care
• People learn about their potential risk of developing type 2 diabetes and ways to prevent it
• People with diabetes know how to get access to the best care and technology
• Healthcare professionals have access to all the training and resources they need to provide the best possible care

However more work remains to be done. As some testimonies show, many people living with diabetes still don't get the support education and information they need to understand or improve their condition.³

Things like personalised care, support and acceptance from their families and communities, as well as attention to mental health, can all make a great difference in the lives of people with diabetes.³

When is World Diabetes Day 2024?

World Diabetes Day is on Thursday, 14 November 2024.¹

The date marks the birthday of insulin's co-discoverer, Sir Frederick Banting. He discovered insulin together with Charles Best in 1922.¹

Around the world, more than 160 countries recognise World Diabetes Day.¹

This year's theme is 'Diabetes and wellbeing' and will carry on until the end of 2026.³ Throughout this time, the awareness campaign will focus on three main areas:³

• Physical wellbeing, concentrating on the role of physical activity and a balance diet in preventing diabetes-related complications and maintaining the health of people living with diabetes.
• Societal wellbeing focusing on the societal barriers that need to be broken to ensure that people with diabetes live the healthiest, most fulfilling lives possible.
• Mental wellbeing, raising awareness of mental health problems that can be brought on by living with diabetes, as well as the ways to alleviate them through inclusive care plans. 

Please stay in touch on our social media accounts as we will share stories across November about how small gesture can mean the world! Don't forget to share with us your story and tell us about a small gesture that made a difference for you in the comments!