12 April 2016 - The Philippine Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in celebrating World Health Day on April 08 at its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The World Health Day coincides with the founding of the WHO in April 07, 1948. 

WHO Director General Margaret Chan opened the ceremony by sharing why the focus this year is on the threat of Diabetes - a disease that is on the rise. Cases of Diabetes have quadrupled since 1980 to 422 million adults, with most living in developing countries. 

Director General Chan’s message highlighted the characteristics of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes and the consequences of the disease, which is a serious chronic disease.   When uncontrolled, diabetes can lead to stroke, blindness, heart attack, kidney failure and amputation.  “Imagine the debilitating impact of amputation as a consequence of a preventable disease”, she said.

Moreover, once seen only in adults, type 2 diabetes is now increasingly occurring in children and young people.  There is a dramatic rise in the number of children under 5 years of age who are overweight.

Many cases of diabetes are preventable through healthy diet and exercise, adoption of policies to create supportive environments for healthy lifestyles and better detection and treatment of the disease.

As part of the celebration, the first Global Report on Diabetes was released in the WHO website (http://www.who.int/diabetes/global-report/en/). The report contains eye-opening information on diabetes and the challenges of addressing this disease. The lack of access to affordable insulin remains a key impediment to successful treatment. In other countries, even tools for detecting blood sugar content is either expensive or not readily available. Policy recommendations on how to reduce diabetes is also contained in the report.

Director General Chan encouraged everyone to recognize the role they play in reducing the impact of diabetes.  Governments, health-care providers, people with diabetes, civil society, food producers and manufacturers and suppliers of medicine and technology are all stakeholders.  Collectively, “we can make a significant contribution to halt the rise of diabetes and improve the lives of those living with the disease,” she emphasized.

As an organization, the WHO has a Walk the Talk program to incorporate healthy lifestyles into the workplace, such as serving healthy food and promoting exercise, walking and taking the stairs. The Philippine Mission in Geneva joins this call and encourages schools, institutions, organizations, to consider how they can likewise “walk the talk.” END