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BOROUGH PRESIDENT PARTICIPATES IN DIABETES AWARENESS DAY AT BOROUGH HALL

Borough President Marty Markowitz welcomed Diabetes Awareness Day to Borough Hall today and helped kick off Brooklyn’s Diabetes Task Force, which was formed by Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr.

“Diabetes is a public health emergency in Brooklyn, and Brooklynites need to do all they can to protect themselves from this silent killer,” said the Borough President.

Healthcare professionals in Brooklyn have indicated that diabetes and related disorders are responsible for nearly one-third of emergency room visits in some Brooklyn hospitals. Diabetes hospitalization rates in Bushwick and East New York Brownsville are two times the New York City average. (Hospitalization rates in Brooklyn are 9 per 1,000 and the citywide average is 7.2 per 1,000)

Diabetes contributes to almost 200,000 American deaths annually and is the sixth leading cause of death in Brooklyn. 17 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, unfortunately one-third are unaware that they have the disease. Approximately 2.8 million or 13% of all African Americans suffer from diabetes and 2 million or 10% of all Latinos.

If you have diabetes, you are at high risk for a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputations. Factors such as obesity and lack of exercise play a role in the increasing levels of diabetes. There is an alarming increase in the level of juvenile diabetes, especially Type II which is a more serious condition.

Pictured from left to right: Linda Brady, MD, President & CEO, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Jean Leon, Sr. Vice President, Central Brooklyn Family Health Network, Councilman Kendall Stewart, Borough President Markowitz, Reba Williams, MD, Kings County Hospital Center, NYC Health & Hospitals Corporation Board Member Mark Appel and Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr.