September 2009 Archives

Below is a sample letter to the editor you can use for World Diabetes Day. For more ideas, check out How to Write a Letter to the Editor - and Get Published.

Dear Editor,
 
I am writing you to help spread information about World Diabetes Day which takes place on November 14th.
 
Why is World Diabetes Day so important?  According to the National Institutes of Health, there are 23.6 million people in the United States, or nearly 8% of the population, who have diabetes. The total prevalence of diabetes increased 13.5% from 2005-2007.
 
Insert local state statistics here.

Every 30 seconds someone in the United States is diagnosed with diabetes, and the American Diabetes Association reports that 5.1 million Americans have diabetes and do not know it. Statistically, the odds are that the majority of your readers know someone with diabetes, have been diagnosed with diabetes, or have diabetes and do not know it yet.
 
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that diabetes is the 6th leading cause of reported deaths in the U.S. annually.  But the CDC also states that the number of people who die from diabetes complications is actually three times higher than what is reported on death certificates which would rank diabetes as high as the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S.
 
Diabetes does not kill people. Complications from diabetes kills people. Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure, amputation, and blindness.
 
There is no cure for diabetes, but most of the complications from diabetes can be prevented if people are diagnosed and treated early.
 
I urge you to let your readers know about World Diabetes Day.  Diabetes has now been classified as being “a global epidemic” by the CDC. The more people who participate in World Diabetes Day, the greater the chances are of saving lives and finding a cure.
 
You can learn more about this important event at: www.wddusa.org.
 
Thank you for your time.
 
Sincerely,
 
Your Name
Your Contact Information

Lalhe A Wolfe is Founder of iPump.org, a 501(c)3 non-profit that distributes pump supplies to those in need.

Editors of major news publications receive thousands or letters each week.  Here are tips on how to get your letter to the top of the pile. To get started, you can use our Sample Letter to the Editor.

• Be compelling, brief, and clear.
• The first sentence of your letter should state your purpose for writing.
• News publishers are businesses. Your letter should offer a reason why the editor should consider your request (i.e., tie World Diabetes Day into local events or your own state’s diabetes statistics).
• Do not include photos of yourself or family unless you are telling your own personal story.  Remember, stories with mass appeal are more likely to be picked up by major news sources than are local human interest pieces.
• The focus of spreading the word about World Diabetes Day is that it is a global concern, not a human interest story (but an editor might be interested in how diabetes has affected your life and ask you more personal questions in a follow-up).
• Do not use "teasers" -- be sure to provide enough relevant information that an editor can make an instant decision about whether your story idea is interesting.
• Do not assume the editor knows what you know: if you mention hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia briefly explain what they are.  Avoid using acronyms like DKA, BG, Dx’d, and other common terms an abbreviations familiar to people in the diabetes community.
• Keep your letter to one page.  If possible, keep your letter between 300-400 words.
• In closing, thank the editor for their time and consideration and tell them they can find more information at http://www.wddusa.org/.
• Be sure to include complete contact information in case the editor wishes to run your letter or assign a feature article to a staff reporter.

Points to Highlight:

• November 14th is World Diabetes Day! It was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the alarming rise in diabetes around the world. In 2007, the United Nations marked the Day for the first time with the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution in December 2006, which made the existing World Diabetes Day an official United Nations World Health Day.
• There are 23.6 million people in the United States, or nearly 8% of the population, who have diabetes. The total prevalence of diabetes increased 13.5% from 2005-2007. Only 24% of diabetes is undiagnosed, down from 30% in 2005 and from 50% ten years ago.
• Every 30 seconds someone else is diagnosed with diabetes.
• Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of deaths in the United States each year.
• Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure, blindness, and amputation.
• Pre-diabetes is a serious metabolic condition. The CDC estimates nearly 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes and most will develop full onset type 2 diabetes within ten years.
• For local emphasis, you can include your own state’s diabetes statistics.
• Why World Diabetes Day is important to you, your family, your community, or others.

How to Contact an Editor at the New York Times

• Send Letters to the Editor: letters@nytimes.com
• Contact the Editors at the New York Times:  executive-editor@nytimes.com or managing-editor@nytimes.com.  To reach Clark Hoyt, the Public Editor who represents the readers, e-mail public@nytimes.com or call (212) 556-7652.

How to Contact an Editor at the Los Angeles Times

• Letters to the Editor (Main): letters@latimes.com
• Orange County Issues: ocletters@latimes.com
• Guidelines for Letters to the Editor
• Editorial Directory

How to Contact an Editor at the Washington Post
Submissions can be sent via e-mail to letters@washpost.com or by surface mail to:

Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20071

To be considered for publication, letters must be exclusive to The Washington Post, must be signed, and include the writer's home address and home and business telephone numbers.

Lalhe A Wolfe is Founder of iPump.org, a 501(c)3 non-profit that distributes pump supplies to those in need.

On this page, you can download four different postcards that can be printed and handed out to help you raise awareness about diabetes, its signs and symptoms.

This is an easy way for you to do something specific to make an impact this coming World Diabetes Day.

In 2008, there was a total of 1,108 monuments lit up in blue around the world as part of the WDD monument challenge. The US accounted for 42 of them (less than 4%). Considering we account for nearly 10% of the people with diabetes in the world, we can do a lot better than that, don't you think?

You may argue: "Well, lighting up a whole building is no easy task!" This is true to a certain extent: check out this page, with details on how to get a local monument lit up in your area. But that was not the only thing where the US fell short. Last year, there was practically NO mention about World Diabetes Day in Google Alerts > Health on November 14. None!

Could we do better in 2009? I certainly think so! What do you plan on doing?

This video will give you some ideas about things you can do for World Diabetes Day. Got more ideas? Why don't you share them as a comment?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
"Diabetes now affects nearly 24 million people in the United States, an increase of more than 3 million in approximately two years... This means that nearly 8 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes." (estimates of diagnosed diabetes are available for all U.S. counties)

This is one of the many reasons why World Diabetes Day matters so much!

We're in the planning stages of World Diabetes Day 2009. Have a suggestion for promoting WDD this year? Leave a comment!