The Belgian Diabetes Forum (BEDF) serves as a collaborative platform that unites various stakeholders in the diabetes sector across Belgium to facilitate decision-making and promote effective management and prevention strategies for diabetes. The Forum builds harmony and common ground between all diabetes stakeholders in Belgium to reach efficient policy engagement in diabetes and to make better prevention of diabetes, better care, and a higher level of well-being for people with diabetes a reality. It is the Forum's mission to identify what is going well, what is missing, and what can improve in diabetes prevention and care in Belgium. Based on this analysis, the Forum aims to provide guidance for policymakers to fill the gaps and align existing initiatives regarding prevention, care, and well-being in a cost-effective way. The Belgian Diabetes Forum aims to be an efficient platform where decisions can be taken in full respect of the specific identity of every member. Independence and a multi-stakeholder approach must always be guaranteed in the decision-making processes. In 2022 and 2023, BEDF consulted the diabetes community during its two “SPEAK UP” events. This led to the identification of six priorities that policymakers will need to consider to improve diabetes care in Belgium during the next legislature. These priorities are presented in the Memorandum 2024. The Belgian Diabetes Forum has drafted a White Paper after a broad consultation of stakeholders involved in the prevention and management of diabetes, both through individual interviews and virtual workshops. This document presents a list of recommendations to raise awareness among policymakers and to help them prioritize future policy actions. The Belgian Diabetes Forum brings together a range of stakeholders across the diabetes landscape in Belgium. As part of its mission, the Forum believes patients should have better access to their own health data in a comprehensive way. A patient dashboard can play a pivotal role in empowering people with diabetes to better manage their condition. To inspire developers, the Forum has created a two-pager outlining guiding principles for developing such a patient dashboard. On Saturday, 11 October 2025, the Belgian Diabetes Forum hosted the fourth edition of SPEAK UP at La Tricoterie. Key messages from SPEAK UP '25 included: Early detection of type 1 diabetes: Blood markers now make it possible to detect type 1 diabetes before symptoms appear. A clear call was made to develop a national screening program, starting with high-risk groups and eventually extending to the general population. Diabetes care in residential care centers: There is a pressing need for better collaboration between healthcare providers and institutions to ensure tailored care for residents. The right to be forgotten for people with type 1 diabetes: Individuals with type 1 diabetes who have no complications have a life expectancy comparable to the general population. It is therefore essential to expand the right to be forgotten when taking out insurance policies for this group. Quality and safety of glucose sensors: To better protect people with diabetes, stricter European standards are needed—modeled on American benchmarks—to ensure the reliability and safety of glucose sensors. On 3 June 2025, the Belgian Diabetes Forum organized a webinar around the Type 2 Diabetes Start-Traject Programme, exactly one year after its launch by the NIHDI. The aim was to take stock of this initiative towards an early and multidisciplinary approach to type 2 diabetes. An initial evaluation of the Start-Traject was presented during the webinar, highlighting areas running well and identifying areas for improvement. Insights from healthcare providers and people with diabetes, partly based on a survey by BEDF, contributed to a rich and nuanced debate. Three clear areas for improvement emerged from the discussions: Better access to administrative data Stronger coordination between healthcare providers More education sessions for people with diabetes With these insights, the Forum prepared a report for the NIHDI, compiling comments, questions, and the main findings from the survey. On 14 October 2023, SPEAK UP took place in the presence of experts, patients, clinicians, and Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. It was a gratifying meeting where the diabetes community was able to express its voice. The points raised by the diabetes community at SPEAK UP have been documented by the Belgian Diabetes Forum in a memorandum presented to policymakers in the run-up to the 2024 elections, aiming to collaborate on the improvement of diabetes policy. On 20 June 2023, the Belgian Diabetes Forum organized a webinar on the diabetes start trajectory, a project supported by the NIHDI and currently being completed. The aim of this project is to achieve early, multidisciplinary treatment of type 2 diabetes. The webinar allowed the start trajectory and existing pilot projects to be presented and provided participants the opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions, which were then forwarded to the NIHDI. On 3 September 2022, the Belgian Diabetes Forum organized the first SPEAK UP event, where more than a hundred participants from both sides of the language border—people living with diabetes, their families, health professionals—took the opportunity to talk directly to policymakers and share their questions and suggestions on different aspects related to diabetes management and care. The proposals and questions raised during the event were synthesized and compiled in a report serving as a basis for further dialogue with the political world. The Belgian Diabetes Forum brings together multiple stakeholders from across the diabetes landscape in Belgium. Belgian Diabetes Forum secretariat Attn. Whyte Corporate Affairs [email protected] Clos Lucien Outers Gaarde 11-21 1160 Brussels – Belgium
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