Diabetes is spoken and thought of in a schematic and stereotypical way in Poland. Surveys conducted by the Diabetes Coalition show that most people do not associate diabetes with serious complications and therefore do not attach much importance to regular glycaemic control. Many misunderstandings and misunderstanding of the disease itself result in diabetes being treated as a 'better evil', one of 'those' lighter, non-fatal diseases.
In response to this problem, we created the project 'See Diabetes - Redefining Diabetes'. As part of the project, a series of roundtable discussions was undertaken at regional level. In Gdańsk, Lublin, and Wrocław, meetings were held between the diabetes community and representatives of local institutions, regional consultants, and patient organisations, with the aim of initiating discussion, as well as joint agreement on strategies to stop the growing proportion of patients in each province.
These discussions were summarised in a debate in the Polish Sejm with the participation of, among others, Igor Radziewicz Winnicki, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Health, Marcin Pakulski, Vice-President of the National Health Fund, Tomasz Latos, Chairman of the Sejm Health Committee, Grażyna Hart, Director of the ZUS Department of Retirement, Prof. Leszek Czupryniak, President of the Polish Diabetes Association.
A photo essay, 'See Diabetes', was also produced in collaboration with renowned photographer Maciej Moskwa, depicting everyday life with diabetes and its various facets. More than a dozen people from all over Poland took part in the project, which uses the lens of a well-known photographer to provide a glimpse of real everyday life with diabetes in different parts of the country. Sixteen people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes took part in the project.
A symbolic element of the campaign was the change of the dictionary definition of diabetes in the Dictionary of the Polish Language. Throughout November, a campaign was underway to collect proposals for changes to the definition, which could be entered on the action website www.nie-cukrzycy.pl. The proposal for this change was submitted to the Council of the Polish Language.
