By Berlanga                                            H.R. No. 209
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    1-1        WHEREAS, Diabetes is a devastating disease that poses a
    1-2  serious public health problem for many Texans; and
    1-3        WHEREAS, Approximately 450,000 persons in Texas have been
    1-4  diagnosed with diabetes and another 400,000 have the disease but
    1-5  have not yet been diagnosed; and
    1-6        WHEREAS, These numbers will steadily rise with an increasing
    1-7  population of high-risk Hispanic, Black, and elderly Texans; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, Complications such as amputations, blindness, kidney
    1-9  failure, heart disease, birth defects, and strokes result from
   1-10  uncontrolled diabetes; and
   1-11        WHEREAS, Texans pay an estimated $2.7 billion each year for
   1-12  treating complications of diabetes, lost income, and costs to
   1-13  state-supported medical care programs; and
   1-14        WHEREAS, Fifty to sixty percent of complications can be
   1-15  prevented with good education about diet, weight, exercise, and
   1-16  appropriate patient diabetes education and clinical care; and
   1-17        WHEREAS, The Texas Diabetes Council has applied prevention
   1-18  techniques in public health settings with programs designed to save
   1-19  dollars and human suffering; and
   1-20        WHEREAS, The Council's Statewide Diabetic Eye Program has
   1-21  been estimated to save $8 for every $1 spent; and
   1-22        WHEREAS, The Texas Diabetes Council as mandated by the Texas
   1-23  Legislature has completed A Plan to Control Diabetes in Texas for
    2-1  the purpose of promoting more effective interventions to help
    2-2  reduce illness from diabetes in Texas, to educate the public on the
    2-3  problems of diabetes, and to increase public support for essential
    2-4  diabetes services; and
    2-5        WHEREAS, The American Diabetes Association has cosponsored
    2-6  with the Texas Diabetes Council the events of February 9, "Diabetes
    2-7  Day at the Capitol," to call attention to this growing health care
    2-8  problem in our state; and
    2-9        WHEREAS, The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, American
   2-10  Association of Diabetes Educators, and other concerned groups have
   2-11  supported the efforts of this day; now, therefore, be it
   2-12        RESOLVED, The House of Representatives of the State of Texas,
   2-13  73rd Legislature, hereby extend its concern for those with
   2-14  diabetes.