'The Faces of Diabetes”: Discovery Health Channel And American Diabetes Association Join Forces To Raise Awareness of the Silent Killer

The three-hour multi-program event will coincide with November's Diabetes Awareness Month.

The Discovery Health Channel announced a partnership with the American Diabetes Association (ADA), to develop special programming to increase awareness of a disease that is reaching epidemic proportions, not only in the United States, but throughout the world.  For more information see Item #12

An estimated 17 million people in the US have diabetes, but nearly 6 million of them don't know it. Worse, the number of children developing type 2 diabetes, once almost exclusively associated with older adults, continues to rise. Through a co-branding and media awareness effort designed to support the ADA's mission, the Discovery Health Channel is joining forces with the ADA to raise awareness of diabetes and its serious complications, and support fundraising efforts in search of a cure.

"It is so important to shed light on diseases such as diabetes that are growing in epidemic proportions," says Bob Reid, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Discovery Health Channel. "We are honored to have the expertise of the American Diabetes Association to help Discovery Health Channel bring engaging, inspiring and informative programming to our audience."

As part of this joint venture, the Discovery Health Channel will take a compelling look at diabetes with a special night of programming to coincide with November's Diabetes Awareness Month. The three-hour multi-program event will take viewers to the front lines of the fight against this incurable condition and provide access to experts on the cutting-edge of new research and treatments. The Faces of Diabetes (wt), examines the many people affected by the disease, from the African American community, which is twice as likely as whites to suffer from the disease, to the research community, which is revealing new information everyday that could lead to a potential cure.

In addition to programming, other key components of the partnership include Discovery Health's promotion of the ADA's nationwide fundraiser "America's Walk for Diabetes," special educational PSAs that will air on the Discovery Health Channel throughout the month of November, and diabetes related content on discoveryhealth.com.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to reach so many captive viewers and online users of Discovery Health Channel and Discoveryhealth.com. It is our hope that more people will learn about diabetes and its serious complications, and further get involved in our mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes," said Francine Kaufman, MD, President, American Diabetes Association.

Did you know? 

Currently, tweens spend an average of four and a half hours each day in front of a variety of screens: including television, video games, and computers.

 HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)