Karen's rundown on what went on at

IDF - International Diabetes Federation Congress Sydney 1999

When I joined Katie Baldwin and Andrew Moodie to head to Sydney to attend IDF and hear Kate Little present on behalf of young people with diabetes, I was very excited. It was held at Darling Harbour in August of this year. On Friday it started at 8:30, so after flying in late the night before it was motivation plus to get there so early, but before I knew it I was listening to a doctor speak about insulin resistance and I knew I was in the right place. Despite the fact I think I have a fair idea about diabetes and the medical side of it, there was barely a word that I understood. Most of what was presented at this lecture was in respect to Type 2 diabetes, but what I did understand was the conclusion that fats and diet play an enormous role in insulin resistance. 

It was very exciting to observe people in the field of diabetes whose work goes far beyond the wildest part of my imagination, with proteins and receptors that mean nothing at all to me daily as I test my blood and administer my insulin. But it was their passion for their work and their dedication to go back and research further, to find answers that blew me away. 

After morning tea I attended a couple of lectures on retinopathy, again plagued with big words but all leading to the message that all diabetics need to get their eyes tested very regularly. 

The afternoon was spent canvassing the drug companies so see what they had to say. To see what they are telling the doctors and educators. This was our opportunity to tell them what we want.   I realised that unless we advise them to what we don't like about their products or even ideas we've had for how they can improve them, they will not know. The drug companies and groups like Reality Check are in a win-win situation, as the more they listen to us the more we can help them to do good business, and the easier life gets for us if they actually make the products we want.  So it was great that all the drug reps were so eager to talk and listen to us! 

Friday night, the dinner at the Homebush Stadium was very exciting and we even got to stand on the turf where the world's fastest athletes will race. Despite the fact it took what seemed like seven hours to get there and the very yummy food was very rushed, before you knew it was 11 o'clock and they turned the lights on and sent us home. The band only played about half a dozen songs.  Short and sweet. 
 
Saturday was very exciting.  As it drew closer to Kate's talk she had already given a media interview to the ABC by now and news that young people with diabetes had lots to say was old news, even by ABC standards. The first speaker for the afternoon at the workshop about young adults with diabetes was a doctor from Yale University, USA, William Tamborlane who is already showing promising results of maintaining lower HbA1cs even in children, but he also talked about the impact of counselling and support that is needed in these groups. The lovely Paul Dillon from the Drug and Alcohol service, known for his regular segment on Triple J also spoke and was able to reinforce that for all his experience with drugs he still knows almost nothing about drugs and diabetes.

It was Kate Little who stole the show. Beginning with the film clip, of Andrew Moodie creation, the scene was set. She spoke from the heart and there would have hardly have been a person who left that room not understanding the plight of young adults trying to cope with living with diabetes, and being a young adult as well. It was also the success of peer support that impressed people too.  The need for this peer support was obvious to most in the room, I felt, but they were most impressed that there are people and groups of people willing to put in the work and get the results for themselves. 

Saturday night was celebrated with a trip on the ferry across the harbour and dinner at Black Bird, the Blue Train of Sydney, as the busiest part of the weekend was behind us. 

Returning to Melbourne were four very weary campaigners. Tired, because we had tirelessly ear-bashed anyone who would listen or had an interest in the "management" of diabetes and how to improve it for the masses. Only the time will tell, if just a few of these people take back and share with others our thoughts or ideas maybe our mission will continue to surge forward. 

Karen Hirth   

"Conference hears diabetics' discrimination fears."

A Sydney conference has been told that young people with diabetes can suffer from stigmatisation, discrimination and depression. Kate Little, 21, who founded the Melbourne Diabetes group, says peer support can be a big help to young diabetics when discrimination makes insulin dependence harder to cope with. She says some diabetic university students feel they can not inject their insulin on campus for fear of being accused of being a drug addict. "They put special lights in the toilets and there's people patrolling and watching out," Ms Little said. "So if you happen to have done your injection or get seen with a needle in a toilet, if it's a high drug use area, the first conclusion that is drawn is that you are a drug user."  

- ABC Interview

Comments (0)