Initiatives prior to World Diabetes Day 2005

Prior to World Diabetes Day 2005, a series of activities involving children, diabetic key opinion leaders and medical spelicalists, were held in Taiwan.

Prior to World Diabetes Day 2005, a series of activities were held in Taiwan. The composition contest for children to share their experience on diabetes was posted on Children's Daily News which has more than 200,000 juvenile readers island-wide. Diabetic key opinion leaders were invited to write easy diabetes information and post their articles on Children's Daily News simultaneously. Moreover, all our medical specialists played as diabetes messengers presenting promotional material to all hospital's health education centers. The writing competition and key opinion leaders articles were posted on our website on 14 October. Many school children read the newspaper, visited our website and raised some questions regarding diabetes.

The cut-off date of the writing competition was 5 November, and we received lots of articles from school children. Some professional writing teachers and the Secretary-General of Taiwan Diabetes Association were invited to be the judges of the contest. The 20 best articles were selected -- 7 first-place winners to obtain NT$6,000 scholarship, a certificate award and one set of skate board and 13 selected winners to obtain NT$3,000 scholarship and a certificate award respectively.

The 7 first-place winners' articles were published on page 14 of Children's Daily News on 26 November and all the 20 winners' articles were posted on our national website as well. This will encourage school children to visit our website to learn the practical knowledge on diabetes.

The World Diabetes Day activity was held at Taipei City Hall on 27 November. All the northern sales reps and Taipei office staffs participated in the carnival. Activities included walk-a-thon,
Aerobic dancing, physical examination, free blood sugar test, foot pressure measurement, prize-winning Q&A and lottery, etc.
Ms. Cheng ZI, the bronze medal owner of Olympic Games in 1968, was invited to give a speech on how to exercise correctly for a walk-a-thon and keep a healthy life. Prof. Larry HO, President of Taiwan Diabetes Association, was also invited to present prizes to the writing competition winners during the festival.

In conclusion, in NN Taiwan, all employees were delighted to have the opportunity to contact diabetes patients, to fulfill our social responsibilities, and to enhance the company branding.