Welcome to November, National Diabetes Awareness Month. Here’s a question for you this month: why doesn’t diabetes have a single, recognizable symbol like the ubiquitous pink ribbon for breast cancer?
The answer is, it could and should, if we patients make it happen!
It’s definitely time for change. Introducing our…
The IDF (International Diabetes Federation) unveiled the Blue Circle for diabetes back in 2006, “to signify unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes pandemic.” But, err… that unity hasn’t happened yet. The Blue Circle has been widely adopted elsewhere in the world, but here in the U.S., the major advocacy orgs have largely ignored it. They use a use a variety of icons, from a hand with a blood drop to a grey ribbon — not exactly the kind of images people are inspired to rally around.
So let’s do something about it!
We’re helping DiabeticConnect.com kick off a campaign to help everyone who cares about diabetes advocacy easily speak out to the three major U.S. organizations effecting patients: the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), and the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and ask them to please get behind the Blue Circle as THE international symbol of diabetes.
That is, if we ever want to achieve anything close to the national attention breast cancer has managed, the diabetes patient population needs to stand up and make their voices heard. The various advocacy organizations in this country need to work together better — starting with the adoption of one recognizable icon.
There are two ways to be heard:
Sign the online petition! The folks at Alliance Health (creators of DiabeticConnect) will present it to the three key diabetes organizations in the U.S. Add your signature.
Mail post cards! Download pre-printed post cards that you can mail to the American Diabetes Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the American Association of Diabetes Educators.
You could win a prize! Everyone who signs the online petition will be entered in a drawing to win one of 20 packages of official Blue Circle bracelets and lapel pins.
That’s pretty neat in itself, because believe it or not, it’s almost impossible to get your hands on Blue Circle merchandise here in the U.S.; it’s only sold off IDF’s website, in bulk proportions and priced in Euros. How can this be our international advocacy symbol if we can’t event flaunt it?!
Help us make the change. Join the Circle today!
Thanks for the info, I’m so IN. By the way the site looks fabulous!
LOVE THIS! -) Site looking FANtabulous.
The pins/symbol in IDF Shop site: not only in Euros, you can change the currency, it’s a drop down. (I just ordered 10 this morning, $16).
As I pinned a blue circle on my 7yo T1′s shirt this morning she said that she was going to tell her class what it meant. But then on the way to school she said “But wait, I thought the symbol for diabetes was red.”
Perfect example of why we need a unified symbol!
(Red would make sense since it symbolized blood, but the color red is already taken.)
And l-o-v-e the new clean look. I like the wide sidebar on the right and all the pop down menus.
For the record, if there were blue circle car magnets available, I might actually consider (*gasp*) putting a sincere awareness magnet on my car.
I am planning on posting a blue circle or some other diabetic symbol onto my Facebook wall every day this month with the heading of NATIONAL DIABETES MONTH. My cousin did this for breast cancer and it was very effective!
I guess I am wrong, but I thought JDRF had adopted the blue circle in 2010. Don’t understand why the AACE American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists is not included for support of the blue circle.
It’s great to push for a unified symbol, but I would rather see these organizations use any donations and other income to advocate and towards research dollars than undergo a huge rebranding effort.
Perhaps I have an inaccurate view of history, but I don’t think that the breast cancer organizations ever promoted the pink ribbon separate from their activities. As they held their fundraising, advocacy, and outreach activities they incorporated the pink riboon and it became the symbol for them.
JDRF has specific efforts they focus on (fundraising, family support, research funding). ADA has a specific focus as well – I wouldn’t go anywhere else if I needed to fight a legal battle. The IDF is the organization responsible for promoting unity and health around the world (http://www.idf.org/whatwedo). Their symbols match their causes.
I would rather have the ADA keep the Hamburger Helper hand and keep fighting in the courts than have them put any money towards adopting another organization’s symbol.
Until people stop dying in other countries from the lack of insulin and other life-saving medications, this will not be near the top of my priority list.
@Bob Fenton – excellent point! We don’t usually consider the AACE American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists an organization engaged in PATIENT ADVOCACY, but they should be, right?!
@Sara – respect for your opinion, of course. We believe that as long as these organizations harbor a “not invented here” attitude and don’t work together, diabetes advocacy will always be piecemeal in this country.
See, for example, Leighann’s comment above. It’s a sad state of affairs that patients don’t even know what colors & symbols signify their cause. A unified front is worth investing in, because we can accomplish so much more that way.
Also, to be clear: we are NOT SUGGESTING A MAJOR REBRANDING EFFORT. No need for these orgs to spend thousands of dollars remaking themselves! There are easy ways to recognize and utilize the Blue Circle in conjunction with their own efforts.
Really like your new design! MUCH easier to navigate.
I like the blue circle…
I very much support this. I don’t necessarily see this as a huge re-branding effort on behalf of any organization. Rather, I see it as embracing an infrastructure and weaving the Blue Circle into it’s already-existing campaigns, initiatives, efforts, and marketing. To me, it seems as though unifying the community behind one logo and color does the advocacy and awareness good. I don’t agree that doing this detracts from any greater mission these organizations such as the JDRF, ADA, DRI, AADE, or others already have. It just works to bring our community together as we advocate and talk to the general public who may have no clue about anything D-related and simply don’t understand the differences between the existing organizations. That’s insider baseball to them and it’s not relevant, so we need to make them see a basic united front in order to further the cause(s). My 3.14525 cents.
I really like the idea of a symbol for Diabetes. I hope that like the pink ribbon for breast cancer, it also becomes associated with the push for its cure.
I just signed the petition…I like this idea because it gives a broad identity to diabetes, a global approach since this is not an “American” association. Thanks for sending this. I will pass on to others I know. Joyce Lofstrom
I like this idea…it is a global symbol and not one with an American focus…thanks for sending this info, Merle.
We need a unifying symbol to connect all the different people with diabetes: children, seniors, skinny and round, Type 1s and Type 2s, LADA, etc. If we could get a fraction of the recognition enjoyed by the ubiquitous pink , it would go a long way toward erasing some of the myths that seem to comprise the world’s awareness of diabetes. They have several advantages: marketing makes it seem that by getting dressed and eating normally one can support breast cancer research. Plus, as Howard Hughes put it, “Everyone loves titty.”
Why the color blue? Someone on an earlier post said that the most common sense color would be red for blood but that was taken by another organization. Well blue is also taken for Autism. I guess for me the circle and it being blue makes no sense to me. I do not see a diabetes relation at all. Sorry.
Wendy: Both the circle and the color blue are meant to be symbols of unity – uniting all people with diabetes. The color blue is for the color of the sky that we all live under, and the circle is also for unity and also to distinguish diabetes for the plethora of other ribbons.
I am unable to sign this year’s petition as a Canadian is it by design
How can WE as Canadian’s also dealing with this disease, get hold of those awesome Diebetic Blue Bands. I love the look of them and what a subtle way to let people know you are diabetic instead of them rummaging your body for a Medical Alert bracelet or necklace. Love it… (Would be interrested in getting a few and do some Fund Raising for the cause)
Thanks