If you aren’t already aware, there is an event scheduled for September 18th in NYC.  It’s called Unite for a Healthy Future and the purpose is to support the fights against non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory disease. The International Diabetes Federation and civil society leaders are organizing an afternoon in Central Park, New York City, the day before the UN summit. 

However in recent days, there have been efforts to weaken the progress on this subject.  From the IDF website: “International progress on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disease, is at grave risk, because of recent efforts by some member states to postpone and weaken United Nations negotiations, an alliance of civil society organisations warned today.  In a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the NCD Alliance, a coalition of over 2,000 organisations from over 170 countries focusing on NCDs, attacked the state of negotiations towards the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs, scheduled for 19–20 September in New York. Referring to the Political Declaration, which will be the outcome of the meeting, the Alliance said: “The situation is urgent. Yet, it is reported that sound proposals for the draft Declaration to include time-bound commitments and targets are being systematically deleted, diluted and downgraded.””

We need to do everything we can to make sure our leaders do not abandon this effort!  Manny Hernandez from TuDiabetes, posted a great blog yesterday about this.  Please read his post We are here! We are here! We are here! HEAR US!

I contacted President Obama via the White House website.  This was my declaration to him:

“I understand the NCD Alliance has jeopardized the progress on the non-communicable disease epidemic. This cannot happen. NCDs are now the leading cause of death worldwide each year. And it’s only going to get worse. I am a person living with type 1 diabetes and I do not want to see this disease continue to grow in statistics. I also do not want to become a victim of disability because of my disease. Something needs to be done. So many people in the US are affected by these diseases and the hardships that stem from them. It affects the economy. It affects our healthcare system. These are the people that you govern and work hard for. We need you to attend the NCD Summit on September 19, 2011. We need you to represent us. So many lives are depending on your presence.”

Please follow my lead and the suggestion of Manny to spread the word about the importance of this issue and to contact your government representatives.  We need them to act on this.  Our world depends on it.

Based on the suggestion of my husband, I think this blog is in need of a more positive topic. I apologize if my last several posts have been sort of “downers”.

So on that note, I don’t know about you but I cannot believe that summer is almost over.  Not that I have any real summer-ry activities going on but to think that fall is almost here, school will be back in session and the days will become shorter.  Summer just flew by!  And with a new month just two weeks away, I want to remind everyone that this coming Thursday, September 1st is Diabetes Art Day. If you haven’t heard about it it’s a day started by my friend Lee Ann.  She is an art therapist and does absolutely wonderful things with diabetes related art projects.  From Lee Ann’s site: “Participation is easy. All you have to do is make a piece of art that reflects something about your life with diabetes to share on September 1st. Last year, the submissions were as varied as they could be with participants using everything from traditional art materials like paint and pastels, to digital media like photography and stop-motion animation, to kinetic sculpture, Play-Doh, lots of diabetes supplies, and even cake decorating, and embroidery. On September 1st, upload an image of your work here on the official Diabetes Art Day website. You can use the ‘Description’ text box to add your name, the title of your work, materials used, and your connection to diabetes. If you have a blog, post your work there. You can use Facebook and Twitter (hashtag: #DArtDay) to share your work. You can also share your work on any of the diabetes social networking sites like Diabetes Daily, dLife, and TuDiabetes. Some people like to provide a narrative about what their artwork is about, what it was like to create it, or how the results compare to their initial intention… or, if you prefer, you can let the art speak for itself.”

I am not the most creative person on this planet so I’m going to need the next 2 weeks to put my thinking cap on 😉  But you should put yours on too and join in the fun on September 1st!