Leading voices in health care launch urgent effort to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, one of nation’s most debilitating chronic diseases

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are launching a national, multi-year initiative called Prevent Diabetes STAT: Screen, Test, Act - Today™. With more than 86 million Americans living with prediabetes and nearly 90 percent of them unaware of it, CDC and the AMA have joined forces to take urgent action and are urging others to join in this critical effort.

Through this initiative, CDC and AMA are calling on front-line health care providers, community organizations, health systems, employers, insurers, patients and families to raise awareness about prediabetes and to increase screening, testing and referral to evidence-based diabetes prevention programs that are part of the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program.

CDC and AMA have developed a suite of tools to assist stakeholders in becoming a part of the initiative.

First, a Prevent Diabetes: STAT Web site, www.PreventDiabetesSTAT.org, was created to provide helpful information and tools for healthcare providers, state and local health departments, patients, employers, insurers, and community organizations. The initiative website also includes brief videos to inform stakeholders about the National Diabetes Prevention Program, a link to organizations delivering CDC-recognized diabetes prevention programs (in-person and virtual) by state, and an online screening tool to help people determine their own risk for type 2 diabetes. Visitors are encouraged to take the risk test and encourage colleagues, family members and patients to Prevent Diabetes STAT.

Second, a toolkit was developed to serve as a guide for health care providers on the best methods to screen and refer high-risk patients to CDC-recognized community based or virtual diabetes prevention programs in their communities. The toolkit also includes a screening tool for patients(also available online) to help them determine their risk for having prediabetes.

The time to act is now. We simply cannot sustain the continued increases in the number of people developing type 2 diabetes. We know that a person’s health is connected closely with the health of the community. In addition to focusing on the person with prediabetes or diabetes, we must also engage the systems and communities where people live, work and play. We all must Act – Today.