Media Releases - 9 November 2021
World Diabetes Day: We’re not done yet
Tuesday 9 November 2021: This World Diabetes Day (Sunday 14 November), Diabetes Victoria is sharing the message: We’re not done yet. With this awareness-raising campaign, Diabetes Victoria is celebrating significant medical breakthroughs of the past 100 years, while acknowledging that we still have further to go to find a cure for all types of diabetes. Diabetes Victoria is also announcing the recipients of the 2021 Trisha Dunning Research Scholarship, supporting nurses to undertake a higher degree focused on diabetes, as part of its World Diabetes Day celebrations.
“The discovery of the medical use of insulin in humans in 1921 transformed the history of diabetes,” says Diabetes Victoria CEO Craig Bennett. “No longer a death sentence, diabetes became a chronic condition.”
“More than 361,000 Victorians live with diabetes and are registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme,” continues Mr Bennett. “Around 90 people in Victoria develop the condition every day. With diabetes on the rise, it is more pressing than ever to invest in diabetes research to further our understanding of this serious and complex condition. Every dollar directed towards research is important.”
Diabetes Victoria strives to support world class diabetes-related research and is proud to announce the very first recipients of the Trisha Dunning Research Scholarship – helping to launch the next talent in the field of diabetes research with $60,000 in funding.
The scholarship will be awarded to Ms Sabine Kleissl-Muir, registered nurse and PhD candidate at Deakin University, and Ms Belinda Moore, registered nurse and Masters candidate at the University of Melbourne.
100 Years of Insulin
Led by the International Diabetes Federation, World Diabetes Day is celebrated around the globe and falls every year on 14 November – the anniversary of Sir Frederick Banting’s birth. It was Banting who managed to isolate the insulin hormone for the first time in 1921. At the same time,
14-year-old Leonard Thompson was dying of diabetic ketoacidosis in a Toronto hospital. Leonard became the first person ever to be treated with insulin in January 1922 and, within 24 hours, his dangerously high blood glucose levels had dropped to near-normal levels.
Banting and his colleague John Macleod were honoured with the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and, it’s fair to say that all four key members of the Toronto team: Banting, Charles Best, Macleod and James Collip, have had a profound influence on the health of tens of millions of people throughout the world ever since.
Despite this, 100 years later, we haven’t reached the end of the road – a world free from diabetes. While there are now effective treatments and cutting-edge technology available for people with diabetes, we still haven’t found a cure.
Shining a Light On Diabetes – Blue Monument Challenge
Along with diabetes organisations throughout the world, Diabetes Victoria will participate 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 are shining a light on diabetes by lighting up Bendigo’s Conservatory Building at sunset on Sunday 14 November.
World Diabetes Day Podcast Episode
In Diabetes Victoria’s special podcast episode for World Diabetes Day, host Jack Fitzpatrick talks to Professor Peter Colman AM about Banting’s discovery – and how it has literally saved millions of lives. Professor Colman is a prominent Melbourne endocrinologist with the Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Professor Colman is also a Board Director of Diabetes Victoria and chairs the Clinical Advisory Committee. You can listen to this episode here: diabetesvic.org.au/podcasts
We support, empower, and campaign for all Victorians affected by, or at risk of, diabetes.
For more information:
Sybille Taylor 0408 102 344 staylor@diabetesvic.org.au
