Kent’s Heather Berg joined more than 200 American Diabetes Association volunteer advocates from throughout the country in Washington, D.C., on March 5-7 for the organization’s premier national advocacy event, Call to Congress.

Berg, a senior at Kennedy Catholic, met with members of Congress, asking them to make diabetes a national priority and support efforts to stop the disease in King County.

Attendees included children and adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, family members of individuals living with diabetes, researchers and health care professionals.

For Berg, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10, this was her first time participating in Call to Congress. Her youngest brother, Aiden, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a year and a half before Heather was.

During scheduled meetings with members of Congress, Berg and the other diabetes advocates urged members to make a strong federal investment in the fiscal year 2014 Labor Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill.

Specifically, advocates asked Congress to allocate funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, provide funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Diabetes Translation and support funding for the National Diabetes Prevention Program – all programs grounded in research and dedicated to fighting the nation’s diabetes epidemic.

“Call to Congress provides diabetes advocates from across the nation with an opportunity to shine a spotlight on this deadly epidemic and urge Congress to make meaningful investments toward the fight to stop diabetes,” said Gina Gavlak, RN, BSN, Chair, National Advocacy Committee, American Diabetes Association. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that by 2050 as many as one in three American adults will have diabetes unless steps are taken to prevent this. Congress must act now to fund vital diabetes research, treatment and prevention programs that could curb the trajectory of this disease and ultimately save lives.”

To correspond with Call to Congress and to further demonstrate the increased impact diabetes has on our nation, the association released new research on March 6, estimating the total costs of diagnosed diabetes at $245 billion in 2012. This figure represents a 41-percent increase over 2007 when the cost was last examined at $174 billion.

The study, Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2012, was commissioned by the Association and addresses the increased financial burden, health resources used and lost productivity associated with diabetes in 2012. The study includes a detailed breakdown of costs along gender, racial and ethnic lines, and also includes a breakdown of costs on a state-by-state basis.

For more information about Call to Congress, please visit www.diabetes.org.