Newswise — Latino diabetes experts and representatives of community-based organizations, faith communities, businesses and public health agencies will gather in Atlanta Sept. 20-22 for the First National Hispanic/Latino Diabetes Forum.
The forum, which takes place at the Embassy Hotel, is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control-Division of Diabetes Translation, with support from the National Diabetes Education Program and the American Diabetes Association.
Forum co-chair Aida Giachello, associate professor of social work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said conference participants are expected to develop a strategic plan of action to achieve equity and eliminate disparities among this population.
Giachello, who was named last week by Time magazine to its list of the nation's 25 most influential Hispanics, is founder of the Midwest Latino Health Research, Training and Policy Center at UIC.
"The numbers of Latinos diagnosed with diabetes and diabetes complications are increasing at an alarming rate in the United States," she said. "Despite recent improvements in treatment, there is limited research and data, limited linguistic and culturally appropriate programs that work in diabetes management and control, and a lack of a national coordinated effort to address diabetes disparities among this minority population."
She said the forum will also promote and strengthen collaboration and partnership among various organizations.
The forum came about as one of the many recommendations developed by the CDC Diabetes Work Group in 1999.
UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.
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