Dr. Graham Ogle, one of the founding members and current General Manager of Life for a Child was presented with the Sir Kempson Maddox Award at a ceremony in Sydney, Australia. The award is Diabetes NSW & ACT’s highest accolade, and is given to a person who has made a significant contribution toward helping to improve the lives of people living with diabetes.
In 2000, Graham was invited by Professor Martin Silink to develop the IDF Life for a Child program to assist children and young people with diabetes in less-resourced countries. In the subsequent 18 years that Graham has been General Manager, the program has gone from strength to strength, and is currently supporting more than 18,500 young people with diabetes in 41 countries with insulin, diabetes supplies and education resources.
Graham has worked tirelessly to improve the outcomes for young people who live in some of the most vulnerable communities in the world, where access to supplies and expert care is limited. He has established important international collaborations that have led to various novel research, mentoring and advocacy initiatives.
Despite significant progress in recent years, Graham says there is still a long way to go, ‘An estimated 80,000 young people still need supplies and we have a waiting list of countries that need support’.
Graham has also been awarded the Harold Rifkin Award for Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes by the American Diabetes Association, the Cross of Medical Service by the Government of Papua New Guinea, and the Jeff Hitchcock Distinguished Service Award from Children with Diabetes. Graham has been a member of two IDF Task Forces and a Commissioner in two Lancet Commissions on Diabetes.
