Published: December 22, 2008 09:22 pm      

Epidemic

Closing of diabetes association’s W.Va. office casts light on problem

Low fundraising has been cited by national officials with the American Diabetes Association as the reason for closing West Virginia’s only field office (located in Dunbar) representing this organization.

That made us shake our heads a little bit. We understand the need for the ADA to remain fiscally solvent, but the magnitude of this health issue in the Mountain State begs for more to be done, not less.

West Virginia has the highest percentage of diabetics, based on population, in the country.

Diabetes in and of itself can be — and is — a killer if it’s not addressed and treated properly. Separate from its own issues, it leads directly to a plethora of other health problems.

Yet many West Virginians simply aren’t being treated or just don’t know the seriousness of this disease.

How severe is the problem?

Here are just a few excerpts from the Web site dedicated to the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program in West Virginia.

- Diabetes has escalated to epidemic proportions in West Virginia.

- The estimated number of persons with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in West Virginia is 256,000. Over 85,000 of us do not know we have it.

- Access to diabetes education, care and management is limited and/or non-existent in many rural areas of the state.

Plenty of these words and terms scare us — epidemic, lack of education, care and management, not even knowing at all.

State officials, hospitals, physicians and other health care providers need to keep up the effort to address diabetes on multiple fronts, and it would be prudent if national diabetes advocates would give a little more thought to increasing their presence in West Virginia rather than packing up and leaving altogether.