Last week the great Sugar Ray Leonard encouraged Congress to Imagine a World Without Diabetes. Particularly moving were his words about the decision to pursue professional boxing to help with the cost of treating his father’s diabetes. He convincingly encourages Congress to act to renew the Special Diabetes Program by pointing out the following sobering statistics about diabetes:
- The leading cause of kidney failure.
- The number one cause of blindness in adults.
- The cause of the majority of amputations unrelated to injuries.
- Over the last decade, the number of children with diabetes has grown by more than 20 percent.
We join Mr. Leonard in encouraging Congress to renew support for the SDP. The fight against diabetes is a hard one, but one worth fighting.
I think there was something in the “emergency” measure that funded this program for another year. Props to Sugar Ray.