III 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 211 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2007 
Received and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Whereas the World Health Organization and the Inter-
national Diabetes Federation established World Diabetes 
Day in 1991 with the aim of coordinating diabetes advo-
cacy worldwide; 
Whereas World Diabetes Day is celebrated annually on No-
vember 14; 
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HCON 211 RFS 
Whereas on December 20, 2006, the General Assembly of the 
United Nations passed a landmark resolution recognizing 
diabetes as a chronic, debilitating, and costly disease; 
Whereas the resolution designates World Diabetes Day as a 
United Nations Day to be observed every year starting in 
2007 in order to raise global awareness of diabetes; 
Whereas the theme of the 2007 United Nations World Diabe-
tes Day campaign focuses on raising awareness of diabe-
tes in children and adolescents, who face unique chal-
lenges when diagnosed with diabetes; 
Whereas the United Nations campaign aims, among other ob-
jectives, to firmly establish the message that no child 
should die of diabetes; 
Whereas the global diabetes epidemic has devastating effects 
on families, societies, and national economies; 
Whereas diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death by dis-
ease in the world, and is the sixth leading cause of death 
in the United States; 
Whereas diabetes is a leading cause of blindness, kidney fail-
ure, amputation, heart attack, and stroke; 
Whereas in almost every country the incidence of diabetes is 
increasing, growing from an estimated 30,000,000 people 
worldwide in 1985 to an estimated 245,000,000 people in 
2007, and to 380,000,000 by 2025, as reported by the 
International Diabetes Federation; 
Whereas diabetes is one of the most common chronic child-
hood diseases; 
Whereas diabetes can strike children at any age, and when 
diagnosed in young people the risk of developing life- 
threatening complications at an early age increases and 
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HCON 211 RFS 
life expectancy is shortened by, on average, 10 to 20 
years; 
Whereas new figures from the International Diabetes Federa-
tion’s Diabetes Atlas suggest that more than 70,000 chil-
dren develop type 1 diabetes each year and 440,000 chil-
dren worldwide under the age of 14 now live with type 
1 diabetes; 
Whereas recent data indicate that one out of every three chil-
dren born in the United States will develop diabetes dur-
ing their lifetime, including one out of every two children 
from ethnic minority groups; 
Whereas in low- and middle-income countries, many children 
with diabetes die because they are diagnosed late or 
misdiagnosed or because insulin is unaffordable, unavail-
able, or in short supply; 
Whereas the incidence of type 2 diabetes, which was pre-
viously rare in children, is rising at alarming rates, with 
more than 200 children a day developing this form of di-
abetes; 
Whereas obesity is a major contributor to type 2 diabetes; 
Whereas according to the International Obesity Task Force 
of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 
155,000,000 school-age children worldwide are over-
weight, representing at least 1 out of every 10 school-age 
children; 
Whereas at least 30,000,000 of those overweight children are 
classified as obese, accounting for at least 2 percent of 
the world’s children between the ages of 5 and 17 years 
of age; 
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Whereas research has shown conclusively that type 2 diabetes 
can be prevented or significantly delayed through healthy 
weight maintenance and regular physical activity; 
Whereas adopting a lifestyle high in physical activity and 
adopting a low-sugar, low-fat diet can successfully pre-
vent the onset of obesity and diabetes among school-age 
children; 
Whereas diabetes is costly, with the world estimated to spend 
at 
least 
$232,000,000,000 
in 
2007 
and 
over 
$302,500,000,000 by 2025 to treat and prevent diabetes 
and its complications; 
Whereas world treatment costs for diabetes are growing more 
quickly than the world population; 
Whereas diabetes threatens to subvert global economic ad-
vancement by both straining government budgets world-
wide (with the cost of diabetes-related disability pay-
ments, pensions, social and medical service costs, and lost 
revenue) and burdening private health insurers and em-
ployers with spiraling health care costs; 
Whereas by 2025 the largest increases in diabetes prevalence 
will take place in developing countries, whose economies 
are less able to support increased expenditures to provide 
for those with the disease and engage in effective preven-
tion efforts; and 
Whereas the economic impact of diabetes threatens to under-
mine the achievement of the United Nation’s Millennium 
Development Goals for developing countries: Now, there-
fore, be it 
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Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress supports the goals and ideals 
of World Diabetes Day. 
Passed the House of Representatives November 13, 
2007. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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