In conjunction with theme “Diabetes Education and Prevention” by the International Diabetes Federation, the Putrajaya Global Diabetes Walk aims to engage the public in taking active steps towards diabetes education and prevention in families. Hospital Putrajaya together with the support of the Boehringer-Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, this alliance marks the date with an awareness drive that focuses on the importance of education and prevention for a healthy future.
Present at the Putrajaya Global Walk was guest-of-honour Y. Bhg. Tan Sri (Dr) Aseh bin Hj Che Mat, Perbadanan Putrajaya President who spoke on the government’s efforts to curb the epidemic of diabetes in Malaysia.
It appears that not many people truly understand how debilitating diabetes is. This disease currently affects approximately 285 million people worldwide.
Y. Bhg. Tan Sri (Dr) Aseh bin Hj Che Mat said in his speech “The prevention and control programmes for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) in Malaysia have been in place since the late 1980’s and the government has continued to strengthen it at the turn of the century. However despite our best efforts,the prevalence of diabetes continues to rise in this country. We need more inter-sectoral collaborations like today’s Putrajaya Global Diabetes Walk in order to reach efficiently and effectively to the community”.
World Diabetes Day is celebrated annually on November 14th in conjunction with the birthday of Frederick Banting, who along with Charles Best, was instrumental in the discovery of insulin in 1922, a life-saving treatment for many diabetes patients.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) initiatives through the World Diabetes Day is aimed at empowering diabetes patients through education, while engaging governments to implement effective strategies to prevent and manage diabetes among the community.
Education and prevention continues to be the driving force behind diabetes awareness efforts throughout the world with the guidance and support of the IDF, and the Putrajaya Global Diabetes Walk should hope to impress upon the public the importance of education and active prevent to make the right and healthy choices in life.
