ediabete

Artistes committed to health causes!

Daniel Lavoie and the Foundation for Juvenile Diabetes.
Essential, 1995.

It's seven years ago that Daniel Lavoie involved himself with the Foundation for Juvenile Diabetes [type 1 diabetes]. The gift of himself and the sharing was totally natural for the writer-composer-performer. "People must know that voluntary help involves a huge amount of benefits. In the gratuitous gesture there is equally a bit of egoism", maintains Daniel Lavoie when he is asked about his motivations. Very much in demand he settled his choice on the Foundation for Juvenile Diabetes, firstly because those in charge convinced him, but also because a very small percentage of the funds went into the administration, and because he "likes the organisation and the people who work for it." In the same breath, he praises their honesty and their integrity, qualities which persuaded him. But the artiste has a particular sensitivity to this cause. "I'm probably sensitive to the cause of diabetes because we had it in my family. The people in the Foundation are enthusiastic and knew how to integrate me into their world. Research in this field is essential in order to help millions of children to live better", the convincing spokesman explains.

The principal aim of the Foundation is to collect funds destined for research. Between $1.5 million and $2 million are thus invested in research projects into the disease. Because of its name, many people think that juvenile diabetes only attacks children. That's not true. Anyone could perhaps suffer from it, even if the disease often attacks before the end of the third decade. The sick people who suffer from this type of diabetes are not able to do without insulin injections to live, unlike the other diabetics who can control their levels of diabetes differently, with exercise or an appropriate diet, for example.

In Québec there are 450,000 sufferers with diabetes, of which 150,000 have juvenile diabetes. The Foundation is piloting a research project at the Montréal Hospital for Children. It's all managed by a multidisciplinary organisation financed by corporate and personal donations. If the research comes up with something, all the sick people will gain from the new discoveries in the way of treatment and in its prevention. Remember that diabetes is the number three killer in the world and the number of sick people with it increases by 6% each year.

The financial campaign causes Daniel Lavoie to commit himself in practical terms. Firstly, he takes part in physical activities like the cyclothon which is traditionally held the last weekend in May, and in the Rolls Royce lottery. All these close working appearances with the public and in the media for the Foundation take up about a week of his time per year. "It's easier to ask Daniel Lavoie to appear on TV for an administration not known by the public. The fact that I'm well-known allows me to stir up the population's interest. My role is to interest the public in the organisation which I represent."

And good health, is it an important pre-occupation? "It's most important, it's definitely essential! Happily, I follow a very good diet and even more, I lead an active life. I love cycling and the countryside inspires me a lot. It's often during physical activity that my best ideas come to me. I try to lead a very health life, as far as possible, because I understood quite early that it's better to grow old in good health than in sickness. I'm aware of my luck and it is also because of this that I've chosen to commit myself closely to the organisation", Daniel Lavoie concludes.