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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In recognition of World Diabetes Day, Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in partnership with Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals will host a round table discussion on diabetes, obesity and stroke and a Go Healthy Tallahassee health expo.
The round table discussion is scheduled for Friday, November 14, at 6 p.m. at the Leon County Health Department at 872 West Orange Avenue.
The purpose of the round table discussion is to facilitate thoughtful dialogue among University faculty and community healthcare providers about relevant advances being made in the effort of reducing the burden of diabetes as well as challenges experienced.
The health expo is scheduled for Saturday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Smith-Williams Community Service Center and Walker-Ford Community located at 2295 Pasco Street. The interactive expo is free and open to residents of Tallahassee and the Big Bend.
The first 100 individuals that attend the health expo will have the opportunity to receive a free cookbook and T-shirts. Activities for the day include cooking demonstrations, hula-hoop competitions, aerobics classes, jump rope and relay races.
World Diabetes Day is a campaign that features a new theme chosen by the International Diabetes Federation annually to address issues facing the global diabetes community. While the campaigns last the whole year, the day itself is celebrated on November 14, to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea, which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922. The campaign theme for 2008 is Diabetes in Children and Adolescents. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood.
World Diabetes Day is a global awareness campaign that was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to the alarming rise in diabetes worldwide. In 2007, the United Nations marked the day for the first time with the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution.
Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diabetes affects 24 million Americans. This represents an increase of three million people over the past two years. Additionally, another 57 million have pre-diabetes. Minorities (African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans) continue to be disproportionately impacted by the disease. An estimated 1.1 million people living in Florida have diabetes. The rate of diabetes-related deaths among blacks in the Sunshine State was reported in 2005 to be higher than the national rates.
For more information, contact Otis W. Kirksey, PharmD., FAMU’s College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at (850) 561-2688 or otis.kirksey@famu.edu.
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