Tell Congress: Stand up for Diabetes Research and Save Lives
- by: American Diabetes Association
- recipient: U.S. Congress
Diabetes research is under threat by the White House’s proposal to slash BILLIONS of dollars in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This would delay, or even stop, the discovery of new treatments and a possible cure for diabetes!
Tell Congress to stand up for diabetes research!
The President proposes a budget, but Congress controls federal spending. Unless your representatives hear from you soon, Congress may slash federal funding for diabetes research.
Without funding, groundbreaking science will be halted. We cannot let this happen.
Add your name to the petition and stand up for all Americans living with diabetes.
To whom it may concern:
On behalf of the more than 115 million Americans living with diabetes and prediabetes, I urge you to reject the nearly $6 billion in cuts to diabetes research and programs in the President’s FY 2018 budget proposal.
Please prioritize funding for the following crucial research and prevention efforts:
- $2.165 billion for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at NIH. NIDDK is the primary government agency conducting research to find a cure and advance life- and cost-saving diabetes treatments.
- $185 million for the Division of Diabetes Translation at CDC. DDT leads efforts to prevent diabetes and its terrible complications by developing and implementing state and community-level prevention strategies, outcomes-based research and education to curb the human and economic costs of the diabetes epidemic.
- $25 million for the National Diabetes Prevention Program at CDC. The National DPP is a cost-effective public-private partnership of community, healthcare and faith-based organizations, private insurers, employers and government agencies aimed at preventing diabetes in the 86 million Americans at risk, including half of all Americans aged 65 and older.
The human and economic cost of diabetes is devastating. Every day, 3,835 Americans are diagnosed with diabetes, while 136 enter end-stage kidney treatment and 200 undergo an amputation because of this horrific disease. If current trends continue, one in three adults, and one in two among minority populations, will have diabetes in 2050. The annual cost of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes, gestational diabetes and prediabetes has skyrocketed to $322 billion, an astonishing 48 percent increase in five years. People with diagnosed diabetes have health care costs 2.3 times higher than those without diabetes.
The federal government's current commitment to diabetes research and programs is not nearly commensurate with the burden of diabetes. We must address the diabetes epidemic now. By supporting significant funding in FY 2018 for NIDDK and DDT, including the National DDP, you can improve the lives of all Americans living with, and at risk for, this devastating disease. Thank you for your consideration.
[Your comment here]
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
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