Ascensia Diabetes Care, a global diabetes care company, makers of CONTOUR? blood glucose monitoring (BGM) system portfolio and distributors of the Eversense? continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system, has announced the winner of its This is Diabetes art and photo competition. The competition was looking for a piece of artwork or photography that reflected "Access to Diabetes Care", the theme selected this year by the International Diabetes Federation for World Diabetes Day. The competition attracted over 150 entries in total, split between a general public and an employee category. A total prize fund of €12,000 has been pledged to be donated, in the name of the winners and runners-up, to the diabetes charities of their respective choices.

In the general public category, Katia Montel, based in Italy, is the global winner for her image entitled "We fight diabetes together". The picture depicts two people dueling with one another using a syringe and a blood glucose monitor. The €5,000 donation will be made to DiAthlete, a UK-based charity. In addition, a €1,000 donation will be made to the charity selected by the three runners-up: Brenda Lim, Singapore, donating to Diabetes Singapore; Renata Cuellar Vélez, Mexico, donating to Con Diabetes Si Se Puede I.A.P; and, Georgina Anzures, USA, donating to JDRF.

In the internal category, open to Ascensia, PHC Group and business partner employees, the joint winners were named as Sabrina Yeo, based in Singapore and Cole Bruesehoff, based in the USA, who have chosen for their donations of €1,500 to go to Diabetes Singapore and JDRF respectively. In addition, Ascensia will make a donation of €500 to the charities selected by two runners-up.

Sabrina Yeo, commented: "I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to all the winners and runners up. It is an honor to have won this competition. This initiative was a great chance to showcase and learn more about what access to medication, technology, support, a healthy diet and safe place to exercise means to people living with diabetes around the world. These are things that many take for granted, but we, especially Ascensia employees and our business partners, need to remember, that this is not the case everywhere."

The winners were selected based on the creativity, connection to the theme and storytelling behind the submission. The judges included: Appleton, a US-based artist and photographer who lives with Type 1 diabetes and whose mission it is to spread awareness of diabetes through his art, speaking and advocacy. UK-based, Adam Isfendiyar, a documentary and travel photographer who uses his art to tell stories of places and people and the relationship between identity and environment. Singapore-based Pei Yan Heng, a photographer passionate about capturing nature, who lives with Type 2 diabetes. Weronika Burkort, a Belgium-based Polish artist and illustrator, who was diagnosed with Type 1 in 1995 and creates art to inspire, motivate and support the diabetes community. And Manon Pinard, an Ascensia employee based in Canada and a member of the Ascensia Insiders group, which consists of employees living with diabetes who offer insights and a patient's perspective on company sponsored activities. 

Rob Schumm, President at Ascensia Diabetes Care, commented: "Our engagement with World Diabetes Day is a big part of who we are at Ascensia. As a company, which is only focused on diabetes, we are proud to play an active part in highlighting what it is like to live with this condition, and we seek every opportunity to further educate ourselves and our employees. It's been inspirational viewing all the entries to see what this means to so many people and I hope these images capture the attention of people around the world to help raise awareness of diabetes globally. We are delighted to be able to support a number of diabetes charities, furthering access to diabetes care, through the donations we are making on behalf of the winners and runners-up."

To view all the winners and runners up and learn which charities have benefited, go to www.ascensia.com/wdd2021/, and show your support for World Diabetes Day by liking, sharing or reacting to these images. You can also view them on the Ascensia Diabetes Care Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media channels.

Source: Ascensia Diabetes Care