Eli Lilly and Company, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), on Monday, announced the global launch of the Inspired by Diabetes Creative Expression Competition, a global art contest asking people with diabetes, as well as their families, friends and caregivers, to express how diabetes has impacted on their lives.
The ?Inspired by Diabetes? competition seeks expressions of the diabetes journey through art, essays, poetry and photographs. Children or adults inspired by the triumphs and challenges of dealing with diabetes or those who care for them are encouraged to enter the contest. More than 800 entries were received from around the world during the first year of the competition.
Anjali a school student from Chennai, India made it to win the grand prize last year. She contested for the Children category of ?Inspired by Diabetes? competition last year. Her creative expression bid to increase awareness on Diabetes was a gameboard which she created to represent that ?one can always maximize his or her benefit by playing right?. Besides Anjali the other winners for other categories of this global competition were from USA, JAPAN and Spain.
?Inspired by Diabetes is an initiative to ignite a movement to combat Diabetes. With changing lifestyles, Diabetes has grown manifold and is silently taking lives across geographies and age groups. Therefore it is imperative to educate and spread awareness to curb the toll of this dreaded disorder?, said Mr. Sandeep Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director- Lilly India.
The spirit of Inspired by Diabetes is to bring families and people with diabetes together to raise awareness of the global burden of diabetes and draw particular attention to people who do not have the resources they need to fight the disease.
?We were humbled by the response to the campaign and the depth of personal experiences communicated in the stories and art work during the first call for submissions?, said Thomas Danne, President-ISPAD. This September, the grand prize winners of the 2007-08 Inspired by Diabetes contest were recognized in Rome during the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
People who enter the contest receive two ?blue circle? diabetes pins, representing the global symbol of diabetes. For each set of pins distributed, one US Dollar will be donated to the International Diabetes Federation?s Life for a Child Program, which provides life-saving diabetes supplies to more than 1100 children in 18 developing countries.
?This competition provides a welcome opportunity for people affected by diabetes everywhere to connect. Through various forms of self-expression it is possible to gain a little more understanding of how this disease impacts the individual, the family and the community,? said Dr. Martin Silink, President- IDF. ?By supporting the Inspired by Diabetes competition, people can show they care and help support some of the close to 75,000 children living with diabetes in desperate circumstances.?