November is American Diabetes Month and tomorrow is World Diabetes Day. We’re taking a day to share important resources and explain what needs to be done to ensure the diabetes community gets the care they need—now, and after the pandemic.
34.2 million Americans (10.5% of the population), had diabetes in 2018—and 1.5 million more are diagnosed each year, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
It’s one of the most chronic conditions in school-age youth in the United States—affecting about 193,000 youth under age 20, according to NIH.
And diabetes disproportionately affects Black Americans, who are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with the disease and spend two times as much on health care even though they earn half as much as whites.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it’s more important than ever to bring awareness to diabetes—because the disease is a risk factor for serious illness and death from COVID-19, and both diseases disproportionately affect people of color in America.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and glaring examples of racial injustice are casting a bright light on an old problem in America,”says ADA. “Health inequity is obvious and widespread. It contributes to worse outcomes and higher risk for diabetes and many other diseases. And it undermines the wellbeing of our most underserved communities.”
This month, ADA is taking action to call for expanded testing, zero-dollar co-pay caps, continuous health care coverage, and health equity—issues that are important to BIO, too.
Visit the ADA’s COVID-19 Resource Center.
Learn more about the diabetes R&D pipeline. Read BIO’s The State of Innovation in Highly Prevalent Chronic Diseases, Volume III: Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity Therapeutics.
Learn more about what BIO’s doing to improve health equity. Visit www.bio.org/bioequality-agenda.
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