World Diabetes Day.. The Original Story

The World Diabetes Day is a global awareness campaign held on November 14th of every year focusing on the diabetes mellitus disease.

The campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and is held on November 14th because it marks the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting who first came up with the idea that led to the discovery of insulin in 1922 along with Charles Best and John James Rickard Macleod. It was first launched in 1991 by the IDF and the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the rapid increase of diabetes cases around the world.

Every year the campaign focuses on a specific theme related to diabetes whether it is type-1 diabetes which is not preventable but can be managed with insulin injections or type-2 diabetes which is a largely preventable and treatable non-communicable disease. The themes covered included diabetes and human rights, diabetes and lifestyle, diabetes and obesity, diabetes in the disadvantaged and the vulnerable, and diabetes in children and adolescents.

It is worth mentioning that by 2016, the World Diabetes Day was being celebrated by more than 230 IDF members in more than 160 countries around the world. Not to mention the different politicians, and celebrities living with diabetes.