News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Nov. 3, 2003

Contact: OPHS Press Office
(202) 205-1841

HHS Launches New Effort to Reach People With Diabetes Who Are Undiagnosed

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced a new community-based effort to identify persons with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes and refer them for follow-up blood testing and treatment if appropriate. The focus of this initiative is to help Americans better understand their diabetes risk and take appropriate actions based on those risks.

The Secretary's Diabetes Detection Initiative: Finding the Undiagnosed (DDI) supports HHS' Steps to a HealthierUS and the President's HealthierUS programs to create a healthier, prevention-oriented society. The goals of the DDI are to increase blood testing for individuals who are at high-risk for diabetes and to increase diagnosis for those with unrecognized diabetes.

"The strength of this program is that all levels of society -- state and local health departments, community-based organizations, business sector, tribal communities and many others -- have been brought together under HHS leadership to focus on a common goal: the detection of unrecognized type 2 diabetes," Secretary Thompson said.

As a broad-based community effort, the DDI encourages individuals to determine their risk for undiagnosed diabetes using a customized paper risk assessment tool adapted from the American Diabetes Association. The results of this self-administered risk assessment tool will give the individual a clear message regarding appropriate blood testing to confirm the risk. A finger stick/capillary blood test will be part of the medical assessment that takes place in a health care site and this result, combined with other information, will inform the health care provider of the need for further testing to diagnose diabetes. Risk tests will be distributed through a variety of community channels including social- service, faith-based, grass- roots and fraternal organizations and retail outlets.

The DDI is being piloted in 10 communities throughout the country: Oakland, Calif.; Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kan.; Springfield/Holyoke, Mass.; Flint, Mich.; East Harlem, N.Y., Choctaw Nation, Okla.; Orangeburg County, S.C.; Seattle, Wash.; Fayette and Greenbrier Counties, W.Va.; and Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyo. These sites were selected to reach high-risk populations in a variety of urban and rural settings. In the future, it is expected that the DDI will be expanded to other locations across the country.

"November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, so it is an appropriate time to recommit ourselves to the fight against diabetes," Secretary Thompson said. "Diabetes is now the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and cost the nation $132 billion in 2002. Through programs like the Diabetes Detection Initiative, we're working at the community level to find Americans who have type 2 diabetes but do not know it. Early diagnosis and proper treatment of diabetes can delay, and even prevent, the progression of serious health problems such as heart disease and stroke, blindness, lower limb amputations, and kidney failure. It is vitally important that we reach the undiagnosed sooner rather than later."

The DDI is the newest of the department's comprehensive programs to increase awareness among all Americans of diabetes and to reach those at risk. Other ongoing HHS efforts include:

Steps to a HealthierUS -- HHS is targeting diabetes with the Secretary's Prevention initiative Steps to a HealthierUS, to prevent obesity and the onset of type 2 diabetes through community initiatives to achieve healthier lifestyles. More information is available at http://www.healthierus.gov/.
HHS' National Diabetes Education Program -- This program emphasizes messages about controlling diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes to curb the epidemic that threatens the health of Americans of all ages, women and men and, increasingly, children. The program is a joint effort involving HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
Encouraging Simple Lifestyle Changes -- "Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent type 2 Diabetes" provides people with tools they can use to make necessary lifestyle changes, including modest weight loss and physical activity.
Better Diabetes Care Web Site -- HHS provides practical information and resources designed to help health care providers across the country make a difference in the way diabetes is prevented and treated. The resources are available at http://www.betterdiabetescare.org.
Know your ABCs -- HHS sponsors "Be Smart About Your Heart: Control the ABCs of Diabetes," a consumer campaign designed to make people aware of their high risk for heart disease and stroke and the steps they can take to lower that risk by managing blood glucose (best measured by the A1c test), blood pressure and cholesterol.
Diabetes At Work -- HHS partners with the Washington Business Group on Health to support a "worksite Web site" with industry and business associations (http://www.diabetesatwork.org) to help companies meet the burgeoning diabetes epidemic head on
HHS' Special Diabetes Program for Indians -- This $150 million program, administered by HHS' Indian Health Service, promotes strategies for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications for American Indians and Alaska Natives. More information is available at http://www.ihs.gov/MedicalPrograms/Diabetes/.

More information about the DDI initiative, as well as other up-to-date diabetes information, is available at http://www.ndep.nih.gov.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: November 4, 2003