To celebrate World Diabetes Day (WDD), the Slovenian Diabetes Association (SLODA), organised several activities throughout November.
Lighting in blue campaign
Every year, on November 14, SLODA encourages all diabetes associations across Slovenia to invite public institutions in their local areas to decorate and light up their buildings, landmarks, streets, schools, classrooms, etc., in blue. On its website, the association shares an overview with the pictures of the 64 buildings that participated in the initiative this year (find the gallery here).
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Diabetes awareness campaign #darujemkilometre
For the fourth year, the association has been implementing the campaign #darujemkilometre to raise awareness of diabetes and to encourage physical activity. The goal of the campaign is to collect a total of 384,000 km, equivalent to the distance between Earth and the Moon, by encouraging people to engage in sports activities such as running, walking or cycling while recording the distance they travelled. This year, a record-breaking 101,537 km were collected by participants in just over six months, bringing the total number of kilometres collected in the four years to 240,879 km. At this pace, the association is expecting to reach the goal of 384,000 km by next WDD.
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Read more about the #darujemkilometre campaign here.
Expert consultation on new developments in diabetes treatment and management
On November 7, the Slovenian Diabetes Association held an expert consultation on new developments in the treatment and management of diabetes, with the participation of Dr. med. Samo Fakin, vice-president of Slovenian Diabetes Association; Jana Klavs, nurse, educator and president of the Section of Nurses and Medical Technicians in Endocrinology; Prof. Dr. Tadej Battelino, Dr. med., head of the Clinical Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Paediatric Clinic of the UKC Ljubljana; and Alenka Simonič, Dr. med. specialist and family doctor. The event was moderated by Martina Kolenc, from the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). The event included a roundtable in which guest speakers talked about the newest advances in the treatment and management of diabetes, which was followed by an open discussion with the public.
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The recording of the event can be watched here.
World Diabetes Day celebrations
On November 12, the association organised an event with various musical performances in Trbovlje. The celebration was attended by 300 people representing 38 local diabetes associations from Slovenia.
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Collaboration with amateur radio operators
To raise awareness of diabetes, on WDD, the Slovenian Diabetes Association collaborated with the Association of Radio Amateurs of Slovenia for the 24th year in a row, by broadcasting on the special radio stations S55T and S50G to raise public awareness of diabetes at the national and international levels. The two stations transmitted with increased activity on November 12, 13, and 14 on most radio amateur frequencies. Across the years, the initiative reached a total of 250,000contacts with “radio-amateur active” countries, with tens of thousands messages about diabetes being broadcast.