The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the American Diabetes Association and the National Indian Health Board have honored Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., with the 2008 Congressional Leadership Award for his efforts in extending the Special Diabetes Program (SDP) in Congress.The SDP has two programs: the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research, which funds Type 1 Diabetes research through the National Institutes of Health, and the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI), which funds prevention, treatment and education programs for Native Americans with Type 2 Diabetes through the Indian Health Service.
More than 60,000 people have been involved in clinical research supported by the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes Research program, and the SDPI has funded 66 prevention demonstration projects and over 300 tribal community-directed programs.
Dorgan has authored legislation to extend the SDP for an additional five years, and the bill currently has 48 co-sponsors in the Senate. As chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, he has also worked to raise awareness about the significant progress that has been made in tribal communities struggling with diabetes.
"I am deeply honored by this award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the other organizations represented here today, and I plan to keep pushing for policies that will support innovative ways to deal with this disease," Dorgan said in a press statement. "Diabetes is a serious problem that hits our American Indian communities particularly hard. It's important that we find ways to educate the public about how to prevent diabetes and how to treat it effectively once they have been diagnosed."
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