World Diabetes Day
Next: November 14, 2026
Go blue for someone you love.
The story
Where it comes from
World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization, and became an official United Nations day when the General Assembly adopted resolution 61/225 in December 2006. It is held on 14 November, the birthday of Frederick Banting, born in Alliston, Ontario, in 1891. In 1921 Banting and his assistant Charles Best, then a medical student, began the Toronto experiments that led to insulin, and in January 1922 a 14-year-old boy became the first person treated with it.
How it's celebrated
The International Diabetes Federation says the campaign reaches more than a billion people in over 160 countries. Landmarks are lit in blue, the colour of the diabetes symbol, and WHO and IDF each set a theme for the year. It is also a good day to check on someone who manages diabetes every day, and to learn the early signs, since about four in ten people with diabetes have not been diagnosed.
Did you know
- The blue circle, the global symbol for diabetes, was introduced in 2006; its blue reflects the sky and the flag of the United Nations.
- On the first UN World Diabetes Day in 2007, more than 200 landmarks were lit blue, among them the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House and Tokyo Tower.
- Malaysia's 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey found that about one adult in six has diabetes, and that two in five of them did not know it.
Coming up next
- World Prematurity Day · November 15, 2026
- International Day of the Mediterranean Diet · November 16, 2026
- World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day · November 17, 2026
- International Day of Islamic Art · November 18, 2026
- International Men's Day · November 19, 2026
- Vietnamese Teachers' Day · November 20, 2026