On June 16, 2011, a lecture series entitled Diabetes: a Noncommunicable Disease We Fight was held at the 2nd Department of Internal Medicine for representatives to the United Nations in New York as part of their Hungarian tour.
Presentations were given by Dr. Anikó Somogyi, professor of Internal Medicine at Semmelweis University, Dr. Róza Ádány, dean of the Faculty of Public Health at the University of Debrecen and Dr. György Parragh, president of the Medical and Health Sciences Centre, also at the University of Debrecen.
The U.N. representatives, mainly from Pacific, Caribbean and African nations, visited Hungary upon the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the aim of gaining a wider understanding of Hungary and exploring possibilities for cooperation, which may, in the long run, build up a partnership between the countries, with particular attention to the United Nations Millenium Developmental Goals.
In the statistical portion of her lecture, Dr. Anikó Somogyi contrasted the world average of diabetes prevalence with that of the regions from which the U.N. representatives hailed, the latter being significantly higher; while worldwide, diabetes affects 5-10% of the general population, this number jumps to 10-40% for the above-mentioned geographic areas. Dr. György Parragh spoke about the complications associated with diabetes and explored possibilities for their treatment. Dr. Róza Ádány emphasised that preventing and halting the spread of diabetes is considered a highly urgent task by the World Health Organisation (WHO), adding that the worldwide prevalence of diabetes has an economic dimension as well.
The U.N. representatives commented on the lectures from the perspective of their respective nations, and requested that information related to their specific countries be made available to them, so that they may utilise this knowledge upon their return.
(Translated by Gina Gönczi)
