Colombo - The overconsumption of sugar is fast becoming
one of the world’s biggest problems, threatening millions of lives as one of
the primary causes of diabetes. But does the public really understand how
serious the threat is? Here’s a fact that may put things in perspective:
diabetes kills the same number of people as tobacco does.
The World Health Organisation puts the number
of global tobacco-related deaths in 2013 at one every six seconds, and the
International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas quotes the same number for
diabetes-related deaths in 2013 (approximately 5.1 million people). The figures
are undeniable.
This year, the Diabetes Association of Sri
Lanka (DASL) in collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi Sri Lanka focused on
this alarming reality. The 1 Every 6 Seconds campaign was unveiled across a
number of media platforms on World Diabetes Day (November 14th) using a
“sugarette” (cigarette made out of sugar) as a visual double entendre to
symbolise the campaign.
This clever representation of the problem not
only turned heads in national press, but drew the likes of expert industry and
medical professionals from around the world because of its universal
simplicity. Naturally, the campaign made its way to social media too, and was
shared across multiple networks as a message of awareness using the hashtag
#1every6seconds.
Dr. Mahen Wijesuriya, Secretary of DASL and
Honorary Director of the National Diabetes Centre was also interviewed about
the campaign on national TV several times where he urged the public to react to
the diabetes threat the same way we react to tobacco.
“Diabetes is an insidious disease that’s
becoming a very serious issue here,” said Dr. Wijesuriya. “The prevalence of
diabetes in Sri Lanka is 10.3%, that’s 2.1 million people suffering from the
disease. Every day, around the country, 100 people die of diabetes-related
illnesses.”
Realising the need to support the momentum of
the campaign, local councils also pledged their support by using public
signboards to paste large posters of the “sugarette” around prominent locations
in Sri Lanka’s capital.
“Tobacco is always the one
that gets the attention,” explains Carlos Anuncibay, ECD at Saatchi &
Saatchi Sri Lanka. “What’s frightening is that diabetes is just as harmful and
addictive, and we are completely oblivious to this. There is no cure for
diabetes, you can only prevent it or control it. That is why we are pushing for
awareness on all platforms.”
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