TODAY is World Diabetes Day! More than 200 million people worldwide have diabetes. Many of them do not receive the care that they need. This year's campaign focuses on diabetes in the disadvantaged and the vulnerable.

With the slogan "Diabetes Care for Everyone", the World Diabetes Day 2006 campaign aims to raise awareness of communities and groups in both developed and developing countries that experience difficulties in accessing optimal healthcare because they are outside the healthcare system, or for some reason, are less likely to access or are less aware of the services available to them.

World Diabetes Day campaigning and celebrations involve the entire global diabetes community. The year-long campaign is the key awareness-raising event for diabetes representative organisations everywhere.

The main aims for the 2006 campaign are to:

-Underscore the message that every person with diabetes or at risk of diabetes deserves the best quality of education, prevention and care that is possible.

-Draw public attention to communities and groups that are disadvantaged or vulnerable in terms of their access to appropriate diabetes education prevention and care.

-Increase awareness among the international assistance community of the need to provide greater funding for non-communicable diseases.

-Focus the attention of the public and private sectors on the low levels of investment in diabetes education, prevention and care.

-Persuade governments to tighten the welfare net so that individuals with diabetes do not slip through.

-Raise awareness among people with diabetes or at risk of diabetes of the education, prevention and care available to them.

-Engage networks, groups and individuals working with target communities to join the campaign and promote the campaign messages.

-Share best practice in diabetes education, prevention and care that targets disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

-Stimulate research that will foster a better understanding of the socio-cultural origins of diabetes among disadvantaged and vulnerable communities in order to inform the development of policies and practices that are culturally relevant to the prevention and management of diabetes.

-Support the global campaign for a United Nations resolution on diabetes.

The 2006 World Diabetes Day campaign marks the end of the first phase of the Joint IDF-WHO Diabetes Action Now project and coincides with the 19th World Diabetes Congress in South Africa.

The theme aims to raise awareness of disadvantaged communities and vulnerable groups in both developed and developing countries that experience difficulties in accessing optimal healthcare because they are outside the healthcare system, or for some reason, are less likely to access or are less aware of the services available to them.

Depending on local circumstances, the people who are disadvantaged or vulnerable in terms of access to or the availability of diabetes care will differ. In some countries, it may be a lack of health infrastructure or a problem of geography. In others, it may be that insurance does not cover all citizens or that specific groups such as indigenous or migrant populations are less likely to receive optimal diabetes care.

Organisations such as IDF and its members associations, World Health Organisation (WHO), governments and health and social services have a responsibility to recognise this problem on a global scale and to search for solutions at regional, national and local levels.

The activities for the 2006 campaign will promote the importance of providing disadvantaged communities and vulnerable groups with appropriate diabetes care, prevention and education. They will take place over the whole year as part of the 'IDF year of the disadvantaged and the vulnerable'

World Diabetes Day, celebrated every year on November 14, was established by IDF and WHO in 1991 with the aim of co-ordinating diabetes advocacy worldwide.

Since then, it has become the primary global awareness campaign of the diabetes community. Through the activities of IDF member associations and partners, World Diabetes Day campaigns reach millions of people around the world. The diabetes communities of more than 150 countries are united in what is both a targeted campaign to raise awareness of diabetes and its complications and a celebration of the lives of people with diabetes everywhere.

Sunday Times columnist, Dr Mtonga, says as touching Diabetes Mellitus, the International Diabetes Federation, a patient centred international Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), estimates that in 2025, unless something is done about it, there will be over 333 million people living with Diabetes Mellitus, most of whom will be in Sub-Saharan Africa and the developing world in general, up from the current estimate of 194 million according to the 2003 figures.

In Africa, with a population of 295 million, 7.1 million have diabetes, which number will increase, if no interventions are done, to more than double by 2025. The peak age of onset in black-Africans is 23 years. Diabetes in Africa takes a toll on resources because of the chronic nature of the disease, as well as the progressive development of diabetes complications

What is worrying still is that the same age group HIV/AIDS is claiming that is between 19-44 years is the group that Diabetes Mellitus is competing for.

There are two forms of Diabetes namely Type 1 and Type .2, which are sometimes called respectively insulin-dependant Diabetes and Non-insulin dependent Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes mostly affects children and adolescents and accounts for 5-10 per cent of all diabetes even here in Zambia.

Type 2, is by far the commonest form of Diabetes and affects primarily adults although some children and younger adults are affected to a great extent too.

In almost similar fashion as with HIV/AIDS, 50 per cent of all people with diabetes are unaware of their condition. Less still is the knowledge that everybody is at risk of having diabetes.

A family history of diabetes, increasing age, excess weight gain, lack of exercise, dietary indiscretion all contribute to the onset of diabetes.

As with HIV/AIDS, diabetes has no cure but can be prevented. If left untreated, diabetes can cause serious long-term complications affecting the kidneys, eyes, nerve, heart and diseases of blood vessels. Diabetes lowers the immune system of the person and such persons easily develop boils, skin rashes especially in the mouth and private parts.

Despite Diabetes being a huge problem and a potential time-boom, Zambia does not have a policy on tackling diabetes. This means that Zambia will not only have to grapple with the effects of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malnutrition and malaria, but will now have to deal with diabetes mellitus and its complication pushing the health budget even higher and higher and service provision paradoxically lower and lower.

The ministry of Health must lead the effort towards formulation of a policy on non-communicable diseases including diabetes. The WHO and the International Diabetes Federation have made some modest resources valuable to carry out policy development.

A wise approach to diabetes care provision is to prevent it from happening by a good policy that emphasises prevention, mitigation of contributing factors, watching over complications among other things. Preventing diabetes will also help prevent heart disease , strokes and obesity as these share risk factors.

For their part, the International Diabetes Federation and the WHO have taken a lead in helping roll back the tide of diabetes by designating November 14 of every year as the World Diabetes Day. On this day, a number of activities are scheduled at the heart of which is awareness raising, advocacy and education for all, especially stakeholders and decision makers.

This year's theme is Diabetes Care for Everyone whose aim is to raise the voices of 200 million people and counting currently living with Diabetes. Many, if not most, of these are disadvantaged, vulnerable and nowhere near care, least of all good care.