Reps. Mark Diabetes Awareness Day in Oswego

The following news release was provided by the office of Representative Tom Cross.

Reps. Tom Cross (R-Oswego), Pam Roth (R-Morris) and Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora) joined local officials, local resident Martin Flowers and the American Diabetes Association to recognize the importance of Diabetes Awareness Day at the Oswego Public Library Monday, Nov. 14.

Rep. Cross sponsored House Resolution 557 during the fall veto session to create Diabetes Awareness Day in the state of Illinois.

“Diabetes is a disease that affects nearly 10 percent of the residents in Illinois,” said Rep. Cross. “It not only affects those residents, but also their family and friends.  Creating more awareness about this important issue will help others better recognize the signs of diabetes and hopefully lead to better treatment options.”

Martin Flowers, a resident of Montgomery, helped push HR 557 to be adopted unanimously in the Illinois House.

“Working to establish a dialogue that represents a policy to create awareness in the community will help educate everyone about this important cause, which affects so many here in our state,” Flowers said.  “This is a step in the right direction to help make this a more manageable disease,”

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Illinois has 800,000 citizens diagnosed with diabetes and another 500,000 who are not aware they have the disease. 

“This is a disease that with education, medical care and awareness can be manageable. Our goal is to bring awareness to get more citizens tested and diagnosed before it is too late,” said Rep. Roth.

According to the ADA, Illinois’ estimated direct healthcare cost from Diabetes is $7.3 billion per year.

“The importance of Diabetes Awareness can have a profound impact if we can reach just a few people to get them on track to a proper diagnosis,” added Rep. Chapa LaVia. “A proper diagnosis can lead to appropriate treatments that could not only improve our resident’s lives—it might even save a life.”

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Every 17 seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes.
• Diabetes kills more people each year than breast cancer and AIDS combined.
• Recent estimates project that as many as 1 in 3 American adults will have diabetes in 2050 unless we take steps to stop diabetes.

Today is also World Diabetes Day because November 14^th is the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea that led to the discovery of insulin to manage diabetes in 1922.