Highlights of the Second Annual Conference of the Federation of European Nurses in Diabetes (FEND). 18 July 1997, Helsinki, Finland

Addressing the 130 delegates from 18 countries who attended the second FEND Annual Conference (held just prior to the International Diabetes Federation meeting in Helsinki this July), co‐founder and chairperson Anne‐Marie Felton (UK) exhorted members to participate in the political arena and, rather than follow the advice given to the Nurse in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, “hold thy tongue”, to influence health policy at national and international levels and be architects as well as deliverers of healthcare policy.

Mrs Felton reported that the organisation has been preparing a pilot centre training programme for diabetes nurses and intends to submit this proposal to the European Union for their consideration and financial support. She told delegates that the recent US changes in the diagnostic criteria of diabetes will affect people in Europe and will be important for diabetes educators, care deliverers and those with newly diagnosed diabetes.

As with last year's FEND Conference (reported in Practical Diabetes InternationalNovember/December 1996, Vol. 13 no. 6), the meeting contained a well thought‐out blend of clinical and sociological presentations crucial to the provision of diabetes healthcare to the patient.