Statement of the American Diabetes Association on the Administration's Proposal to Undermine Funds for Research, Prevention and Treatme...( ALEXANDRIA Va. Feb. 4 -- The Pre...),Health

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The President, Medicine & Science, American Diabetes Association, John B. Buse, MD, PhD, issued the following statement in response to the Bush Administration's proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budget, announced today, which would continue to under-fund diabetes research and prevention at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Under the Administration's budget proposal, funding for the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) would only be funded at $2.6 million more than the previous fiscal year, only a .15 percent increase. Additionally, funding for the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion will lose $29 million, and the funding for CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation (DDT) would be reduced to $62.45 million. DDT works in federal, state and local partnerships to conduct surveillance, prevention and treatment programs as well as coordinates the state-based Diabetes Prevention and Control Programs that help those suffering from diabetes better control and manage the disease. ADA is urging Congress to increase NIDDK funding by $112.5 million (6.6 percent), and CDC diabetes prevention at DDT by $20.8 million which equates to $1 for every American with diabetes.

"As demonstrated by today's budget proposal, once again the Bush Administration has missed the gravity of diabetes - It is the greatest public health epidemic of the 21st century. For five years, the Bush Administration and Congress have neglected to provide ample federal resources to address the millions who are affected, while the costs of diabetes have increased by more than 30 percent. Currently, one in ten health care dollars is attributed to diabetes - and one in three Medicare dollars - is spent on both diabetes and its related complications. At an estimated $174 billion a year, the costs of diabetes are taking a devastating toll on our
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