For the last sixteen years, I’ve been directly involved in National Diabetes Week (NDW) in some way. Admittedly, I missed a couple because we decided the middle of July is a good time to go to New York to escape the Melbourne Winter. Two years ago I missed half of NDW because I was in Orlando at FFL – I returned just in time for Kellion! Oh, and there was the year I had a little wee lass who I couldn’t stop looking at and cuddling.

But whichever way you look at it, I’ve been involved in NDW for a while. A lot of that was spent very much on the sidelines, because the campaign was type 2 diabetes focused and I was not. Or rather, my role at work was exclusively directed towards type 1 diabetes activities, and campaigns were always about raising awareness of type 2 diabetes.

This year, for the first time, there is an element of the NDW campaign that is exclusively focused on type 1 diabetes and it was launched today. It’s all about the importance of early diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, aiming to reduce the 600-plus hospital admissions each year because the early signs of type 1 diabetes have been missed. I know so many stories of people with diabetes being told they had a virus/urinary tract infection/were run down/growing pains (in the case of kids)/needed a holiday, and sent home with a prescription for antibiotics. Their type 1 diagnosis only came after ending up, very sick, in emergency, many needing ICU attention.

The campaign highlights the 4Ts of type 1 diabetes – Thirst, Toilet, Tired, Thinner.

We leaked a sneak peek of the campaign on Saturday to let everyone know that it was coming. The leaked video, which tells the diagnosis story of 9-year-old Isabelle, has been viewed by tens of thousands of people.

The response to the video and campaign details has been overwhelmingly positive, with people sharing the video widely amongst their networks. And comments have also been encouraging, telling us that the campaign is right in its tone and focus.

Today, the campaign was officially launched in Brisbane and all materials are now available for you to see and share. Here’s the campaign poster:

What can ­YOU do?

As this is a public awareness campaign, we need to get this information out to people outside the diabetes community. Mostly, those of us affected by diabetes now know the early signs of type 1, but that’s not the case for people who don’t have type 1 or know someone living with it.

You can help by sharing the video on all your social networks. Set your shares to public and encourage your friends to watch and share.

Share the poster – both online and off. You could print off a copies and take them to your GP office, school, supermarket and anywhere else with a community notice board. Ask your church or community group, or child’s school if the poster could be shared in newsletters.

Also, I wrote this piece for Mamamia Women’s Network – again as a way of reaching an audience outside the diabetes world. Please read and share this too.

Use the following hashtags: #ItsAboutTime / #NDW2017 / #4Ts