Ho-hum, I'm glad this month is over. I
had hopes that some ideas would come to fruition, but the American
Diabetes Association and JDRF could care less about any idea that
might unify the message and present a uniform symbol for diabetes.
Unless the ADA gets all the glory, do not expect them to agree with
the IDF or JDRF. JDRF on the other hand does not wish to be
associated with anything but type 1 diabetes. These two
organizations are so full of themselves that they don't realize how
insignificant they are in the scheme of things. When the USA is the
only country that thumbs their nose at the rest of the world, they
had better wake up and realize that the world is much larger than
they are. I would not feel upset if the rest of the diabetes
organizations in the world excluded them from all activities.
Riva Greenberg has an excellent blog
from November 13, 2012 about the lack of unity for a diabetes symbol.
She covers the disparity of opinions very well. I will add
that Diabetes Mine informed us of the choices ADA makes in raising
funds and paying Ohio telemarketing firm InfoCision 78
percent of the money raised for ADA. Then the ADA has the gall to
say they did not do anything wrong. If some people are reading the
blog by Mike H(oskins), they may decide the ADA does not need their
money. If the funds dry up, ADA may learn a lesson – but do not
count on it.
I don't pretend to understand the
rivalry between the ADA and JDRF, but from past information, the ADA
likes to abscond with the credit for anything done by other
organizations and ride roughshod over other organizations. If it
wasn't for the few good things (and I emphasize few) that the ADA
does do, I would say let the ADA go out of existence. The many bad
things they do are starting to heavily out-weigh the good. The ADA
still does not realize their one size fits all mantra is for the
average person with diabetes. The rest of us that are not average
are told to comply and go with the flow. This is the primary reason
I do not like the ADA and the organizations that adhere to the
guidelines issued by the ADA.
On November 15, 2012, the ADA sent out
an email asking people to write their congressional legislators and
urge them to put the reauthorization of the Special Diabetes Program
(SDP) on their final to-do list. Then they paint a broad picture of
the good this funding is doing for type 1 diabetes. Can't let
anything be credited to the JDRF. Next, they tell us the “Native
American and Alaska Native communities – which are
disproportionately impacted by type 2 diabetes – SDP programs have
been a lifesaving tool in the fight against diabetes.” I
have to wonder what happened to the Hispanic community and other
minorities, why they were left out of the conversation. Finally, the email states,
“Fortunately, momentum is on our side.
Most of our country’s Representatives and Senators have said they
support reauthorizing SDP.” I am left wondering of any
of the funds go into the ADA coffers.
As a result, I wrote my representative
and two senators to support SDP, but to withhold any funds that might
find their way to the ADA. I used the article from Business Week to
explain my reasons for requesting this. I did hear from one senator
saying he was not aware of the misdeeds of the ADA, but that he would
have his staff look into it. My senator said his staff confirmed
everything and more, but would only say he was not sure what would
happen or when. I am happy the more was not explained, as I would
have been likely to have blogged about it.
Is this blog a vent against the ADA?
Not entirely, I want to include all the diabetes organizations that
are so enchanted with their own
importance that they cannot or will not unite behind the
International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in adopting one unified
symbol for the battle against diabetes. This is one time I will have
to give the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) a pass
as they have adopted the blue circle of the IDF.
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