The Saudi Diabetes and Endocrine Society (SDES) has launched Blue November 2026, a diabetes campaign in the Eastern Province that includes artificial intelligence-assisted diabetic foot screening and a new initiative dedicated to the early detection of diabetic foot complications. The Governor of the Eastern Province, Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, launched the project at the Emirate’s diwan in Dammam on 3 November, according to Saudi press reports.
Four Blue November initiatives
- Your Sugar Is Safe (Sukarak bi-Aman): now in its sixth season, offering health checks and awareness programmes for the early detection of diabetes and obesity.
- Smart Diabetes Pathway: tests, measurement of vital signs, AI-assisted screening of the retina and the diabetic foot, and medical consultations.
- Your Steps Are Safe (Khutwatak Aman): a new initiative, in its first season, focused on the early detection of diabetic foot complications.
- Sukar Digital Library: educational content to help people with diabetes and their families understand and manage the condition.
The launch ended with the signing of several agreements and memoranda of cooperation between the society and other organisations, and the Governor honoured the campaign’s sponsors and partners. The reports do not name the partners, the screening technology, the screening locations or the number of people the campaign aims to reach.
SDES board chairman Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Turki said Blue November was intended to go beyond awareness events during the month and bring preventive services into the community. Prince Saud said that concern for health begins with prevention and healthy behaviour, and that awareness and early detection reduce complications.
Part of a busy month for Gulf foot care
The campaign coincides with Gulf Diabetes Week (8 to 14 November), which ends on World Diabetes Day. It is separate from Walk Safe, the two-year national diabetic foot programme run by the Ministry of Health with the Saudi Diabetic Foot Association, the Saudi Interventional Radiology Society and Boston Scientific.
IMEA POD Perspective
A dedicated diabetic foot strand within a high-profile, governor-backed campaign is a welcome sign that foot complications are being treated as a priority in their own right, not a footnote to glucose control. Two details will decide its value. The first is what “AI-assisted foot screening” means in practice: thermal imaging, photo analysis and pressure mapping are very different tools, and few have prospective evidence that they predict ulceration. The second is referral. Community screening will identify people with loss of protective sensation, deformity or ischaemia, and each of them needs a route to a podiatrist, a diabetic foot clinic or a vascular service. Podiatry is still a developing profession in the Kingdom, so that route cannot be taken for granted. If SDES publishes how many people were screened, how many were found to be at risk and how many were then seen by a foot specialist, Blue November could also provide the kind of regional outcome data that the Gulf diabetic foot ulcer guidelines say the region lacks.
Sources and further reading
- Sobra News: Eastern Province Governor launches Blue November with four health initiatives (3 November 2026, Arabic)
- Al-Jazirah: Eastern Province Governor launches Blue November 2026 to promote diabetes prevention (Arabic)
- Khaleej Voice: Gulf Diabetes Week 2026, 8 to 14 November (Arabic)
- IMEA POD: Saudi Arabia launches Walk Safe national diabetic foot programme
- IMEA POD: Gulf Diabetic Foot Working Group publishes first Gulf-specific DFU guidelines
- IMEA POD: Podiatrist licensing in Saudi Arabia