AidPlusCare and World Diabetes Day
TRIP AT THE AEGEAN SEA TO CHANGE DIABETES
One sea, one ferry, 10 ports, one nurse, hundreds of passengers and blood glucose screenings compose the backdrop of an innovative action aiming to raise public awareness for diabetes. The blue color of the Greek seas, also representing the color of the blue circle – symbol of the world diabetes day, was the inspiration for this innovative action, which was implemented by Novo Nordisk and Hellenic Seaways on World Diabetes Day.
Under the motto “Let’s Sea…….to change diabetes” on Friday 14th of November (World Diabetes Day) the ferry “Nissos Mykonos” sailed from the port of Piraeus to reach its final destination, Kavala.
Intermediate stations were some of the most breathtaking ports of the Aegean Sea: Syros, Mykonos, Samos (Karlovasi and Vathi), Ikaria, Chios, Lesvos and Lemnos. During the journey, a little corner of the Hellenic Seaways ferry was transformed to a diabetes prevention station thanks to the company Novo Nordisk. In this little corner Miss Kontantina Konstantopoulou, a nurse of AidPlusCare carried out blood glucose screenings for diabetes among passengers (the blood glucose monitoring devices were an offer of Bayer)
In total, more than 150 individuals were screened, 15 of which had elevated blood glucose levels. More specifically, one passenger had high blood sugar due to cortisone treatment but was unaware of the potential need of antidiabetic treatment. 5 passengers, already diagnosed with Diabetes Type II, were clearly uncontrolled and the nurse recommended them to contact their doctor to modify their treatment in order to keep glucose levels within normal range. To top it all, the remaining 9 passengers were completely unaware of how to tackle the problem and there was urgent need to visit a doctor.
Beyond the screenings, all passengers had the opportunity to be informed about the complications of diabetes and the actions they can take to protect their health.
Besides from the banner and the posters, leaflets were handled to passengers with information on Type I and II diabetes but also on the importance of breakfast in a balanced diet. Videos were displayed on the ferry’s screens with guidelines on the prevention of diabetes, regarding proper nutrition, regular exercise and the symptoms of both types of diabetes.
When the ferry “Nissos Mykonos” anchored in the port of Kavala, a special event was organized on the ferry, in honor of Captain Evangelos Arathymou, who was awarded an honorary plaque for his contribution to Diabetes awareness. A number of people attended the event, including the President of Diabetic Association of Kavala “Sweet Embrace”, Athanasia Gaitanidou, the Mayor of Kavala, Demetra Tsanaka, the former Deputy Health Minister, Michael Timosides and the Customer Service Manager of Hellenic Seaways, Aris Katsartis, who as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility pledged to repeat this action not only on the ferry “Nissos Mykonos” but also on other vessels of the Company.