The Current Situation With Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is a serious health issue that has the potential to affect everyone. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) occurs when the body produces too much or not enough insulin. There are two types of DM: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 occurs when the beta cells have been damaged and the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to maintain the body. These people usually require insulin to keep the body’s glucose within normal limits. This usually affects a population under the age of 35. Type 2 diabetes is when the insulin produced in the body is not enough for the body to work properly. Type 2 usually affects those over the age of 40 and is more common.

There is no known direct link to what makes the pancreases not adequately produce insulin. There are five population health determinants that affect DM. These determinants are health care, social/individual behaviors, genetics, and physical behaviors. These health determinants have serious effects on one's health. Each one of determinants plays a role in the next. There are many Americans that still do not have access to affordable insurance. There are just as many that do have insurance but struggle to afford high premiums or medications resulting in health neglection. Obesity falls in more than one health determinant category. Social, physical, and individual are among the top causes of obesity. More than 3 million people in the United States are obese. It cost the average person more to eat healthily. Look at all the fast food franchises that have a dollar menu. Type 1 diabetes is more genetically linked. When you have a family history of DM you have more than 75% changes of becoming a Type 1 Diabetic. African Americans have greater than a 50% chance of acquiring DM among any other ethnic group.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is an organization founded to help reduce and prevention of diabetes. They are a nonprofit organization. Their goal is to help prevent and control DM. Over the years they have had many campaigns ranging from, Safe at School program for school-age children to Dancing away Diabetes. The Safe at School program provides a nutrients breakfast and lunch for all school-age children. These meals are made available at no cost or at a reduced cost. This ensures that all children are receiving two hot meals daily. The Dancing away Diabetes was a campaign to help raise money for DM. In November people were dancing to raise money for diabetes resources. They are planning on doing this campaign again this year. They even have their published monthly journal, to provide education to those affected by DM. There are social media support groups. Their newest Campaign is Insulin Isn’t A Luxury. This campaign is designed to reduce the cost of insulin so that Insulin is affordable to everyone. Many people are noncompliant with their insulin due to the cost. The ADA is working with Medicaid and Medicare and other insurance organizations to help regulate the cost of insulin. This campaign started in Spring of 2017 and is still currently in motion. In May of 2018, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging had a hearing titled Insulin Access and Affordability. In this hearing, it was brought up that the cost of Insulin has almost tripled over the last ten years. The conclusion of this hearing is that all physicians are now held to a higher standard of care and it is their responsibility to prescribe affordable insulin to their patients.

The World Health Organization for Diabetes (WHOD) is an organization that does not just focus their efforts on helping those in the United States, they are helping with the fight for DM across the entire world. The six regions that are included are Africa, America, South-East Asia, European, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific. Their main goal is to help prevent, treat, and educate other countries about diabetes. In September of this year, WHOD launched a campaign to help more than 30 million people by the year 2023. As of now World Health Organization (WHO) is the only international organization that focuses the needs of all six regions. WHOD designated November as their month to focus on the woman and their fight for DM. Roughly 8% of woman are living with DM, while that percentage may seem low that accounts for over 205 million women. Less than half of that 8% die from DM complications. WHO joined forces with Diabetes Foundation to form WHOD in 1991 and have been growing strong since.

More than 30 million people in the United States alone are affected by DM. Of these 30 million people 23 million are diagnosed and the rest are not. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in people in the United States. Over 1.5 million people are newly diagnosed each year. A breakdown according to ethnicity is as follows; 7.4% non-Hispanic whites, 8.0% Asian Americans, 12.1% Hispanics, 12.7 non-Hispanic black and 15.1% American Indians. These are alarming statics. My campaign would focus on prevention and education. This would include free diabetes screening for everyone, not just those that are high-risk. We need to make everyone aware of diabetes and the consequence that people face when he or she do not get proper care. We need to stress how these five population health determinants affect our surrounding communities and help find ways to reduce those that are at risk.