Back to Blog

In the News

It's a striking headline, "7 out of 10 adults in Counties Manukau overweight or obese".  According to Local Democracy reporter Stephen Forbes (published 1 News), Dr John Baker, who is Board Chair of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa and is an endocrinologist who has been working in the area for over 40 years, finds the statistics from this report to Parliaments health select committee unsurprising.   Key to this article though is Dr Baker reiterates that overweight and obesity "isn't a...

Throwback...the original exercise groups for health - DPT Lifestyle

Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, like any community based organisation has evolved over the years in terms of the services being delivered.   Based in the Otara community, for years the team ran well  attended exercise groups in a number of community venues, the last two still run by the Foundation team finished in 2014.   These groups were part of the then DPT Lifestyle Programme, funded by the Ministry of Health (or predecessor).  They were seen as an important part ...

Publication - Stratified glucose-lowering response (WORTH Study)

Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa team members Kate Smallman and Patricia Harry worked on recruiting for and delivering part of this randomized crossover trial.    Some results published in January of this year under the heading "Stratified glucose-lowering response to vildagliptin and pioglitazone by obesity and hypertriglyceridemia in a randomized crossover trial" are here.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36699039/...

Throwback... Workplace wellness in 2005

Calling all who remember the Auckland Special K Women's Triathlon!   It was 2004, and someone in the team (I won't mention names) said "lets do a triathlon as a workplace".  It doesn't sound much looking through the lens of today, particularly given every summer now there are entry level events all over the country, but back then, this was a new thing. And the idea that you could do a supported women only event which had no barriers to age, size, ability, fitness...the point was g...

What a year it's been

So we are at last nearing the end of 2022 and what a year it's been.    At Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa we've had so much happen, and I think we can all agree that this year on top of the last couple have brought real challenges.    How far we've come though!   We couldn't have achieved a fraction of what we have without amazing people.  On behalf of our Board and team, we'd like to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the people we've worked with or al...

Publication - DCSS - Ethnic differences in 25-year risk of incident chronic kidney disease

Publication in BMJ of another paper with more analysis of DCSS data from Professor Simmons and Team.  Paper titled "Ethnic differences in 25-year risk of incident chronic kidney disease among people with type 2 diabetes in New Zealand".   The abstract describes the paper as containing "Insights into ethnic differences in the natural history of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) might inform clinical strategies to address disparities in h...

Language matters when talking about diabetes - DNZ Podcast

This significance of this topic is increasingly being recognised in health, how does language impact people as far as their health, wellbeing and experience of the world?  We are seeing the debates in nutrition, education and health about how the communication experience can lead to improvements, or be to the detriment of people's health.   This is an excellent episode of Diabetes New Zealand's (DNZ) video/podcast series talking about the types of language we use and how it can ha...

Annual Activity Report - 2021-2022

The Annual Activity report for Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa covering the April 2021 to March 2022 year.  Financial information is in a separate document, or see Charities Commission website.   Special thanks to funders, donors and supporters over the year....

The new Branding - a 30 year journey to where we are now

Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa...previously 'Diabetes Projects Trust'...previously 'The South Auckland Diabetes Project'... was originally started back in the early 1990s by David Simmons and others.  In the subsequent time, there's been a lot of change, development, progress, and a huge amount of passion and mahi on behalf of many, many amazing people to end up where we are today.  And today, as the next step to rolling out our new public face (new branding, colour template, new we...

Throwback - How things have changed!

We found one of our FIRST websites!   Now that the new website is operational and looks amazing, it's hard to remember how far things have come. Just have a look back at this (we think) 2005 version!  It's seems there's nothing that can't be found on the internet ...so...it was timely that our old website, long gone, turned up in a search as being held in the National Library.   This is a screenshot of the front page, sadly non-functional because we really want to push t...

Getting ready to Push Go for the new website!

We've got exciting news. We've been rolling out our fresh new branding for a little while but now our gorgeous new website is almost ready to go thanks to Claire and her team from The Renew Room.  The Renew room couldn't have been a better fit for our organisation when we started working with them back in 2021.  They have been endlessly patient with finding out what would reflect the unique nature of a community based charitable organisation, and done an amazing job with our full brand...

In the News

There's a supply issue with Trulicity (duaglutide) medication for people with diabetes, and the concern has been around accessing replacements while the supply issues are resolved.In this Stuff article by Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter, Pharmac has assured that patients won't be paying for an alternative.  That's good news to Graham King (Ngāti Tai) , Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Board member, who describes his experience with the medications concerned as "life changing", he...

Our team at the ANZMOSS Auckland Bariatric Meeting

Congratulations to John Baker, Patricia Harry and Diana Anderson who had the opportunity to present to the ANZMOSS (Australian & New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society) Auckland Bariatric Meeting held at Ko Awatea Learn, Middlemore hospital. The presentation was on the special research project we have been running in collaboration with Middlemore Hospital, for teens with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes, from the local DHB area.  The project is now in its second year and the p...

Gardens4Health Information Sheets

Here are some of the popular Gardens4Health information sheets.  Please check back occasionally as we will continue to update and add over time.   Note that these sheets are for information only.   It is still important to talk to someone to get the right advice for your area and growing conditions, and particularly where safety is concerned, check the latest official guidelines around health and safety.If you have an idea for a particular information sheet that might be...

Introducing our Patron - Professor David Simmons

We are delighted that Distinguished Professor David Simmons has accepted the role of Patron for Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa.   The role is new, however the relationship between our organisation and Professor Simmons is not.Professor Simmons has a long and respected history working as a diabetes specialist physician, researcher and advocate.   As the original founder of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa back in the 1990’s with the support of Sir John Scott, Betty Hunapo, Christina Ta...

In the News:

Article by Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter for Stuff, with the headline "100 new health coaches to help Pasifika with diabetes in south Auckland".The intention is that these coaches will train up to prevent diabetes.  Dr John Baker, Chair of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa notes that the funding for health coaches is "commendable", however with his experience seeing the impact of diabetes on people in the area, he feels more is needed. With on the current numbers of people with diabet...

Te Reo translation of our name

 "Te Tumu Matehuka o Aotearoa"As described by Board member, Kaumatua Graham King (Ngati Tai), the literal translation of Matehuka is ‘death by sugar’.  This is apparently not necessarily the actual translation when referring to medical terms prefaced by the word ‘mate’ as it often refers to the possible end outcome.So, when using ‘mate’ in a medical sense it can also mean disease or illness or malaise of some kind and that a number of serious medical conditions are prefaced...

Our Vision and values

Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa has been in the community for over three decades now.  But who are we, what underpins what we do, what makes us who we are as we go about our mahi?   In 2019 our Board of Trustees worked together to answer these questions.  The following is a summary of some of the important aspects of who we are.  For more information go here.Our Trust Deed states that we "work in partnership with Māori, Pacifika, Asian and other communities in the spirit o...

Our Whakataukī

A whakataukī is a proverb, or saying of significance in Māori culture. Whakataukī have been described as being a poetic form of the Māori language, are holistic, can merge events of the past, and have underlying messages. In terms of our own history, it is with great respect that we acknowledge the whakataukī gifted years ago by Kaumatua, the late Bill Wiki, and express appreciation for the guiding influence of the kupu over the years.   There does however come a time as...

Special thanks to Board Member Pat Spellman

Much appreciation is expressed on behalf of the Board and team to Pat Spellman for the mahi he has done over the last two years, as a member of the Board of Trustees of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa. Pat has signaled his intention to resign from his Trustee position.   He does this to focus on other passions and after sharing his specialty skills, life experience and passion for his aim to "prevent Māori and Pacific Whanau across Aotearoa having to live a life affected diabetes".&...

Covid, colds and flu and the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa workplace

We are very happy to be getting back to our normal activities after the prolonged restrictions and lockdowns of recent years.  Our office is open to all and we look forward to having visitors and getting out and about in the community much more.We understand that while restrictions continue to lift, Covid-19 (and colds/flu/infectious disease) continue to be present in our community and some people are particularly vulnerable.  Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa believes strongly in protectin...

Congratulations to new Nurse Practitioner Kate!

Fantastic news, Kate Smallman, our Clinical Projects Manager, is now a Nurse Practitioner!Kate has been a familiar face in the diabetes scene since she started with the then 'Diabetes Projects Trust' back in 2020 as part of a team with Olivia Hala (RN), working on our Lifestyle Programme.    Kate's experience had been considerable in the UK, and she brought many skills with her and has continued to share and develop those skills in the more than 20 years she's now worked with us.Skills...

In the News:

Another article by Stephen Forbes Local Democracy Reporter, published by Stuff, with a really powerful headline "Critics blame diabetes deaths on Pharmac taking years to fund new drug".     Our Board Chair Dr John Baker has advocated tirelessly for more availability of more modern medications, and greater equity in terms of access for those most in need. According to this article, “It’s Māori and Pacific Islanders who are bearing the costs of death and dialysis,” Baker...

A tale of organisational stocktaking in the community

We are working our way through the impact of Covid-19, and one of the residual impacts is that there has been a disconnection and fracturing of relationships in the community between and among organisations, entities, businesses and the people they work with.  This is due to a number of reasons, including lost funding, organisations 'pivoting' for survival or changing focus, changes of personnel, changes to face to face behaviour, and loss of contact details and usual methods of contact.&nb...

In the News:

The headline "Pharmac says all patients who meet criteria will get next generation diabetes drugs, despite concerns".   This article by Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter for Stuff describes concerns around access to the important new diabetes medications.   Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Board member Graham King (Ngāti Tai) who was diagnosed with diabetes in 1990 describes his concerns around access to this medication, he was introduced to it on a trial and is...