DHF gears up for second annual Big Blue Test

BERKELEY, Calif. The Diabetes Hands Foundation is kicking off an annual initiative, designed to promote exercise and blood-sugar testing among diabetics.

DHF started the annual Big Blue Test last year on World Diabetes Day (Nov. 14), where people with diabetes were invited to test their blood sugar, do 14 minutes of activity, test again and share the results. In 2009, more than 2,000 people took the Big Blue Test and saw the impact of exercise on their blood sugar. This year, DHF is aiming for a minimum of 100,000 views of its Big Blue Test promotional video found at Youtube.com/watch?v=nkLHgK94Z0E. To help the foundation reach this goal, Roche Diabetes Care has underwritten the production of the video and will make a donation for every view the video receives up to $75,000. DHF will use the donation to help the Life for a Child program, run by the International Diabetes Federation, and Insulin For Life. These two global humanitarian organizations provide diabetes medication and supplies to children in the world's poorest countries, DHF said.

"Every time someone watches this video, it will make a real contribution to someone actually staying alive," said Ron Raab, president of Insulin For Life. "These donations go a long, long way. In places we assist, like Ecuador, less than $50 keeps a person needing insulin alive for an entire year as it covers the transport cost for us to send the donated insulin."