With the sunset date for the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (ADI) rapidly approaching, the government has yet to confirm whether or not funding will continue after March 31st.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The ADI provides critical funding for community-led diabetes prevention and management programs and services to over 600 Aboriginal communities across Canada, where diabetes has reached epidemic levels.
Without a financial commitment from the federal government to renew the ADI, funding for grassroots national organizations like the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association (NADA), who develop culturally relevant diabetes prevention and management resources, will terminate.
Any termination of ADI funding will also have a devastating impact on the 600 Aboriginal communities working to combat the diabetes epidemic. Programs and services that are essential in bringing a halt to this deadly disease will cease to operate without ADI funding.
The diabetes epidemic will only get worse.
THE IMPACT OF DIABETES AMONG ABORIGINAL PEOPLES The prevalence of diabetes among Aboriginal communities in Canada has reached alarming levels: - Aboriginal Peoples' risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 3 to 5 times higher than non-Aboriginal Canadians - Aboriginal People living with diabetes have increased rates of heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, infectious disease and amputations - Over 20 per cent of the Aboriginal population is now living with diabetes - Most disturbing is that Aboriginal teens and children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes - a situation virtually unheard of in the general Canadian population
Across Canada, Aboriginal People simply do not have the same access to physicians, specialists and hospitals as most other Canadians do. The ADI distributes critical funding so that Aboriginal People living with diabetes can access programs and services to assist them in properly managing their condition within their home communities.
WHAT IS NEEDED