ADA calls for unity during American Diabetes Month

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is calling for the diabetes community to rise up as part of American Diabetes Month especially given the doom and gloom of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

According to a news release, throughout this pandemic many of the nearly 34 million people with diabetes have lost their jobs and employer-sponsored healthcare at a time when those suffering from the disease are at higher risk of experiencing serious complications if they are infected with COVID-19. An estimated 40 percent of American COVID-19 deaths are people who have had diabetes.

Throughout American Diabetes Month, the ADA will be taking deep dives into the systemic inequities existing in the American healthcare system, the release says.

"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 most Americans,” Tracey D. Brown, CEO of the ADA, says in the release. “This is why the ADA has taken on this fight. To ensure that no one goes without proper care or access to the medications they need to survive—because we know that good health and health care is a human right!”

The ADA is challenging everyone to educate themselves, know their rights, ask questions, make impactful lifestyle changes, and step outside of their comfort zones, whether they have type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes, or just know someone who does, the release says.