If a cure is to be found, hundreds of millions of dollars will need to be invested in diabetes research. The US government provides more money for research into disease than any other source ($13 billion in 1998 alone).

Diabetes afflicts more Americans, kills more Americans and costs America more money than AIDS or breast cancer combined. But for every dollar the government spends trying to cure diabetes, it spends $7 trying to cure AIDS and breast cancer.

The American Diabetes Association and its Diabetes Advocates do not support reducing funding for AIDS or breast cancer. But diabetes is as serious, maybe more serious, than these diseases and it does not receive the attention it deserves. We urge that the government to commit the same levels of funding for diabetes as it does AIDS and breast cancer.

Sixteen million Americans have diabetes - one in three does not know it! Take the Diabetes Risk Test to evaluate your risk for this serious disease.

• There is 15.7 million people in the United States have diabetes.
• There is an estimated 5.4 million people which are not aware that they have diabetes.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in people ages 20-74.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease (kidney failure.)
• Diabetes is the most frequent cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations.
• People with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to have heart disease or suffer a stroke.
• Diabetes is one of the most costly health problems in America (around $92 billion annually.)
• Each year, 170,000 Americans die of diabetes or its complications.
• Every week, 12,000 people learn that they have diabetes.
• Every day, 144 people with diabetes go blind.
• Every hour, 3 people with diabetes must have a foot, ankle, or leg amputated to save their lives.
• Every minute, 20 people with diabetes undergo kidney dialysis.