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May 29, 2003
Contact: Kerre Fisher, (907) 748-7398

Alaska receives Federal grant to fight diabetes

Grant will help Alaskans avoid serious diabetes-related complications

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Anchorage, Alaska - - - New federal funding is coming to Alaska to combat the state’s growing problem with diabetes. Last week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta announced that the Alaska Dept. of Health & Social Services, Division of Public Health will receive $450,000 to boost public health efforts to prevent and control diabetes statewide. The grant is part of a $27 million package being awarded to states and territories to fight America’s worsening diabetes epidemic.

“This grant allows the Alaska Diabetes Prevention and Control Program to increase both the level and the intensity of its efforts to help our citizens avoid serious diabetes-related complications,” said Judy Sberna, coordinator of the state program. The program has been active in reducing the impact of diabetes in Alaska since 1986.

Diabetes affects approximately 15,000 Alaskans, or three to four percent of the population over age 18. Nationally, more than 17 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and more than 200,000 die from related complications. The number of American adults with known diabetes has increased more than 60 percent since 1991, and is projected to double by 2050 unless increased public health measures can slow the trend. Diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic lower-limb amputation.

“The good news is that many of the complications of diabetes can be prevented,” Sberna said. “For example, regular eye exams and timely treatment could prevent up to 90 percent of diabetes-related blindness.”

She added that treatment to better control blood pressure and blood glucose levels could reduce diabetes-related kidney failure by approximately 50 percent. Foot care programs that include regular examinations and patient education could prevent up to 85 percent of lower-limb amputations. Scientific evidence shows that the onset of diabetes can be prevented or delayed among those most at risk.

“Two landmark clinical studies have shown that sustained lifestyle changes, with modest weight loss and increased physical activity can result in substantial reductions in diabetes incidence,” Sberna said.

“These studies underscore the need for a public health approach to diabetes prevention and control,” she added. “If we are going to prevent diabetes in Alaska, we need to work with communities to find ways that help people keep their weight down and stay active.”

Sberna said that the state’s diabetes program would use the federal funds to monitor the burden of diabetes to better understand how diabetes affects different populations and how quality of care can be improved. Part of this work will identify target populations at especially high risk of diabetes and develop interventions to reduce disparities.

The program will also assess how accepted standards of diabetes care are currently applied by health care providers in the state, and will work with providers to translate scientific data into higher quality care.

“We also want to expand awareness about diabetes and its control among health care providers and people at risk for diabetes,” Sberna said. That includes developing and delivering culturally and linguistically appropriate diabetes prevention and control messages, she added.

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