Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Diabetes Director Headlines NY Summit

NEW YORK, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- The Institute For Leadership (IFL) and the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONY) jointly announced that nationally recognized diabetes expert Dr. Ann Albright known for her work on models of care in community clinics and leading national type 2 diabetes prevention efforts will serve as the keynote speaker at the inaugural New York Diabetes Summit on May 16th. 

Dr. Albright, Ph.D., RD, is director of the Division of Diabetes Translation for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. Albright is well-known for her work in diabetes including the implementation of evidence-based diabetes care guidelines and development of public awareness campaigns to increase understanding of the disease, the importance of blood glucose control and making lifestyle changes to prevent type 2 diabetes.

The IFL/BALCONY Labor Fights Diabetes program works to reduce diabetes-related healthcare costs by helping unions and businesses implement type 2 diabetes prevention programs, including the CDC led National Diabetes Prevention Program, officials said.

"We are excited to announce that CDC and Dr. Albright are committed to helping put affordable and accessible type 2 diabetes prevention programs in place to reach high-risk populations where they live, work and worship," said the Rev. Michel Faulkner, president of the IFL, which operates a statewide faith-based diabetes consortium.

Lou Gordon, director of the powerful New York State business and labor advocacy organization with more than 1,000 members, said: "We are honored that the CDC and Dr. Albright are engaging the American workforce in their efforts to prevent type 2 diabetes. We look forward to working together to find solutions to keep our members healthy while reducing employee medical costs."

New York State spends $12.9 billion annually on diabetes-related costs with 1.3 million people living with the disease, according to state health statistics.

Nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes and an estimated 79 million adults are pre-diabetic and don't know it according to CDC statistics. Undiagnosed diabetes and diabetes that is not managed well can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.

In April, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) released a new study showing that national diagnosed diabetes costs have increased to $245 billion in 2012 from $174 billion in 2007 when the statistics were last examined.

The Institute For Leadership is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community-based organization founded in 2003 on the principle of creating leaders and building community capacity to address health, financial and social problems that affect high-risk communities. For more information, visit: www.institute4leadership.com.

BALCONY is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that seeks to find common ground between organized labor and business throughout New York State by playing a key role in important public policy debates. For more information, visit: www.balconynewyork.com.

Contact: IFL – Michel Faulkner | (917) 512-6852 | [email protected] 
BALCONY – Nick Moroni | (212) 219-7777 | [email protected]

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Media Contact:

Nick Moroni BALCONY, (212) 219-7777, [email protected]

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SOURCE BALCONY