Okaloosa County BOCC — November 4, 2014 — Request to Present to the Board of Commissioners — reading text

November is National Diabetes Month and November 14 is World Diabetes Day. To advocate for better diabetes awareness and education, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) encourages those suffering with the disease to meet with community leaders and present them with a World Diabetes Day lapel pin. We would like to meet with the Board of Okaloosa County Commissioners, so that our daughter Abigail can present them with a World Diabetes Day lapel pin in hopes that they will wear it for the month of November to bring awareness to this important cause. The World Diabetes Day campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness. World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses. As of this year, over 382 million people are living with diabetes and more than 497,000 children under age 15 years has type 1 diabetes. Of the 382 million people living with diabetes, 29.1 million reside in the US. 8.1 million people have this disease and haven’t been diagnosed. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the US and has a direct and indirect cost of diabetes total $174 billion a year. The most common forms of diabetes are Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. • Type 1 diabetes is usually first diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can occur at any time. To survive, people with type 1 diabetes use insulin from an injection or a pump. Risk factors for type 1 can be autoimmune, genetic or environmental. At this time, there are no known ways to prevent type 1 diabetes. • Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 95% of diagnosed diabetes in adults. Several studies have shown that healthy eating and regular physical activity, used with medication, can help control health complications from type 2 diabetes or can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes Abby was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 18 months old. Now age 12, Abby has been an advocate for a cure from day one. She participated in her first Walk for a Cure 2 weeks after she was diagnosed and hasn’t missed a year since. She has actively engaged local, state, and national leaders to lobby for increased funding and awareness of the differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and the challenges associated with each. In 2011, she was one of two children selected to represent the State of Alabama at the biannual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Children’s Congress in Washington DC. She met with Congressman Roby and Bachus as well as Senators Shelby and Sessions. Because of her advocacy as well as many others passionate about finding a cure for diabetes, Congress renewed the $150 million dollar Special Diabetes Program, which will continue to fund promising research for a cure. We hope you will wear the pin proudly to support the diabetes community and our fight for a cure. Regards, Mark & Kimberly Davis