By:  Ilana Siyance

A new health report was released saying diabetes has become an “epidemic”, which now afflicts 1 million New Yorkers.

As reported by the NY Post, the health report, commissioned by Mayor Eric Adam’s administation’s Health Department, is recommending a well-funded citywide campaign to curb diabetes.   Diabetes is a group of debilitating and potentially deadly chronic diseases which result in too much sugar in the blood.  The dismal report says that not only are 1 million New Yorkers now affected, but there have also an increased number of amputations in people with diabetes.  The study noted that persons of color are significantly more likely to have the disease, with Black and Latino New Yorkers are twice as likely to have diabetes compared to white New Yorkers.

“The ongoing diabetes epidemic in New York City is a public health crisis leading to enormous harms to New Yorkers, including vision loss and blindness, kidney and nerve damage, heart disease, stroke, and lower limb amputation,” said the report, co-authored by the Health Department with medical advocacy groups Health People and Black Health/National Black Leadership Commission.  “Our city must confront diabetes with the necessary investment in public response and proven measures that the severity of the diabetes epidemic demands,” the report added.

The NYC Health Departments report made numerous recommendations including: opening more diabetes treatment centers in hospitals in poor neighborhoods, sponsoring public health campaigns, changing how Medicaid reimburses to expand coverage for more diabetes monitoring and prevention programs, and expanding more healthful food options in underserved communities.

Mayor Eric Adams, who tamed his own diabetes, will now be on the hook to help curb the disease throughout the five boroughs of NYC.  Per the Post, about a decade ago, Adams temporarily lost his vision to Type 2 diabetes.  He made dramatic changes to his lifestyle and diet, switching to a plant-based diet and eating greens including kale and spinach. “I had permanent nerve damage in my hands and feet that the doctors stated would lead to amputation,” Adams told The Post in 2021.  “I [also] had high blood pressure and high cholesterol.”  He has since launched a campaign to discourage New Yorkers, especially children, from consuming sugary drinks, including chocolate milk, which elicited backlash from the dairy industry in upstate NY.

Chris Norwood, executive director of the not-for-profit group Health People, who served as a co-chair of the Health Department’s diabetes working group which wrote the report, said she thought it a “little weird” that Adams’ administration hasn’t done more to curb the disease.   “Mr. Mayor, we need you. We need your inspiration. He knows the great results people can get. He should see that as many people as possible get that kind of support,” Norwood said.  She added that the city’s current funding is not nearly enough to promote the report’s recommendations.

Mayor Adams recently ordered budget cuts for every city agency, including the health department, amid the projected multi-billion dollar budget gap and the migrant crisis.

The health department commented on the report claiming that the Adams administration has taken “aggressive action” to help residents control diabetes.  “This report reflects the urgency of addressing diabetes and other chronic diseases – on which this Administration has taken aggressive action and made substantive investments.