November 14, 1891 is the birthdate of Dr. Frederick Banting, a Canadian doctor, who with his partner, Dr. Charles Best, discovered the therapeutic effects of insulin. In 1923, he received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for this discovery.
And so, 14th of November was named World Diabetes Day. This is the 5th year that people all around the world have organized ‘walks against diabetes’ to raise awareness of this illness and create opportunities to decrease its incidence.
Students of our Faculty are not indifferent to this cause. The recently-formed Motolák medical students' association, together with IFMSA, organized this event. Notifications about this event were posted in the university hospital’s bulletin boards as well as on the University webpage.
In front of the dean’s office, a group of young people met for a pleasant thirty minute walk around the hospital. No one had even expected that on a Friday afternoon, there would be such a good turnout as forty students. Some of them wore blue scarves and carried big banners with the slogan ‘Day of Diabetes’ written on them. The students gave passers-by information and detailed professional advice about this illness, from symptoms to therapy to complications it can cause. However, the main focus was to inform people about the prevention of diabetes.
Although the organizers had had doubts about the outcome of the first walk, people were left with a positive impression and as one lady said, ‘I hope that it’ll be a tradition that can continue for years to come’.
