Reducing health disparities related to diabetes and its complications is one of the aims of DCAC.  According to the 2012 Georgia Diabetes Burden Report, the percentage of adults living with diabetes in Fulton County is 8.1%.  The prevalence of diabetes in some areas of the county, however, is greater than 14%.  For this reason, DCAC has joined the Partnership for Diabetes Health Equity (PDHE) out of the Morehouse School of Medicine’s National Center for Primary Care.  The Partnership is funded by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation’s Together on Diabetes Initiative.

As a PDHE partner, DCAC is in a position to benefit from and share resources, tools, and best practices with other organizations throughout the country.  For a schedule of upcoming PDHE Webinars and “Coffee Shop Chats”, see the Webinar Series Newsletter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014 this week.  The numbers are alarming.

More than 29 million people in the United States have diabetes, up from the previous estimate of 26 million in 2010 One in four people with diabetes doesn’t know he or she has it.  Provided here is a snapshop of the CDC’s 2014 Diabetes Infographic.  To see the entire image, see CDC 2014 Diabetes Infographic.

Another 86 million adults – more than one in three U.S. adults – have prediabetes, where their blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes.  Only one in ten adults are aware that they have prediabetes. Without weight loss and moderate physical activity, 15 percent to 30 percent of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within five years.

A vast array of resources to prevent and manage diabetes are available on CDC websites.  We encourage readers to explore these materials.  To learn more, visit the  National Diabetes Education Program.

National Prevention Strategy

Beginning this year, the Diabetes Community Action Coalition of Fulton County is actively promoting three of the four objectives of the.Surgeon General’s National Prevention Strategy.  It is DCAC’s vision that

The mission of DCAC aligns with the National Prevention Strategy by:

1) Ensuring that prevention-focused health care and community prevention efforts are available, integrated, and mutually reinforcing,

2) Supporting people in making healthy choices, and

3) Eliminating disparities to improving the quality of life for all Americans.

To learn more about how your organization can promote these three objectives,
click on:  Clinical and Community Preventive Services, Empowered People, and  Elimination of Health Disparities.

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