Campaigns - 13 July 2019

Diabetes is a serious and complex condition that affects at least 1.7 million Australians. It is the seventh and eighth leading cause of death in females and males respectively, and the fourth largest contributor to overall disease burden in Australia. The costs associated with diabetes are substantial. The total cost of diabetes annually in Victoria has been estimated to be as high as $3.6 billion.

As the voice for the diabetes community, Diabetes Victoria places diabetes high on the agenda of change makers through our advocacy and awareness-raising efforts. We promote issues and campaigns to address the impact of diabetes in our community, lead the way in diabetes prevention, management and research and maximise health resources to assist people living with diabetes.

Diabetes Victoria works with many partner organisations, committees and communities to maximise our reach and impact for our campaigns. Among our partner organisations are The Parents’ Voice and The Obesity Policy Coalition.

World Diabetes Day 2019: My diabetes, my family. All in it together.

World Diabetes Day is celebrated every year on 14 November. It is the leading global diabetes awareness and advocacy campaign, officially recognised by the United Nations and led by the International Diabetes Federation. Continuing last year’s messaging, as promoted by the IDF, the 2019 theme is Diabetes: Protect your Family.

Diabetes Victoria is supporting this campaign with the message:
My diabetes, my family. All in it together.
Diabetes concerns every family. More than 338,000 Victorians live with diabetes and are registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme. Diabetes Victoria estimates that an additional 150,000 Victorians do not know that they have type 2 diabetes and that another 750,000 Victorians have elevated blood glucose levels, which puts them at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

With diabetes on the rise, it’s likely that everybody will know someone with diabetes.

Back to Basics for World Diabetes Day

During National Diabetes Week in July, Diabetes Victoria launched a new awareness campaign, Back to Basics. This series of short videos will help educate Victorians about diabetes, one of the most misunderstood health conditions For World Diabetes Day, a new video was launched in the series exploring the question: What's it like to grow up with type 1 diabetes?

In this short video, 10-year-old Justin explains when and how he was diagnosed, and how the condition affects everyday family life. His mum Jade also speaks about how many decisions every single day are affected by diabetes.

Further videos in this series will be released in the upcoming months.

Funding vital diabetes research

The Diabetes Australia Research Program (DARP) was established in 1987 to support and develop diabetes-related research. This national, competitive and peer-reviewed program provides funding towards the prevention, management and (hopefully) a cure for all types of diabetes, by enabling and fostering world-class diabetes researchers.

On World Diabetes Day, Diabetes Victoria will announce the successful Victorian research projects which will receive funding in 2020. The total funding pool will comprise $4 million, to which Diabetes Victoria has contributed $1.4 million. This builds on a very proud record whereby Diabetes Victoria has contributed more than $17 million since 2000.

Blue Monument Challenge

Along with diabetes organisations throughout the world, Diabetes Victoria participates in the 'Blue Monument Challenge' on World Diabetes Day. This challenge was launched in 2007 and since then, thousands of iconic sites and buildings in over 80 countries have gone blue to raise awareness about diabetes.

This year, we lit up the Walker Fountain in the Kings Domain, Melbourne, in blue - the international colour for diabetes.