[Diabetes-talk] Iowa Diabetes Action Network Meeting and Resolution

[COLLEEN ROTH]

Hello Everyone,
I think this is a great Resolution.
I am hoping that we can get this Resolution passed by Ohio DAN and the NFB of Ohio State Convention.
To that end, I have sent it to our DAN President and the Resolutions Committee Chair.
This would be a great Resolution for States to pass.
Colleen Roth



----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Bl'" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: Sunday, October 13, 2013 9:08 pm
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Iowa Diabetes Action Network Meeting and Resolution

>
>
> Excellent.
> 
> Mike
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Sandi Ryan
> Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2013 5:19 PM
> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Iowa Diabetes Action Network Meeting and Resolution
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> I wanted to let you all know that the first official Annual Meeting of the
> Diabetes Action Network of the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa was
> a success.  Our meeting was held during the state affiliate convention, on
> Friday afternoon, October 4, 2013.  Around 30 people attended our meeting,
> with 24 paying dues for 2014.  We conducted a little business—talking about
> the history of the division, electing a new secretary and Board member, and
> passing a resolution (see below).  Dr. Nancy Kane, a well-known Des Moines
> endocrinologist, spoke with us about diabetes basics, potential
> complications (including some hardly mentioned in the usual list), and
> answered audience questions.  We are very happy with the meeting's results.
> 
> The resolution passed by the IDAN moved on to the Resolutions Committee,
> where it was altered a bit and passed on to the Affiliate.  On Sunday
> morning, October 6, the convention passed the resolution unanimously.  
> 
> Below is the resolution passed by the convention.  We look forward to
> working with DANs across the country and others interested in this issue at
> the national level. 
> 
> Sandi
> 
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
> 
> OF IOWA
> 
>  
> 
> Resolution 13-02
> 
> Regarding Advocacy to Make Diabetes Tools and Technology Accessible to the
> Blind
> 
>  
> 
> WHEREAS, The National Federation of the Blind has, since 1940, championed
> the independence of the blind and worked to make the world accessible to and
> safe for the blind; and
> 
>  
> 
> WHEREAS, to help increase the independence of blind people, the National
> Federation of the Blind has fought to make technology, readily available to
> the sighted, accessible for the blind; and
> 
>  
> 
> WHEREAS, according to the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National
> Institutes of Health (NIH), diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of
> blindness, affecting 4.1 million American adults over age 40, and
> 
>  
> 
> WHEREAS, very little technology currently on the market for constantly or
> periodically monitoring blood glucose, accurately delivering insulin, or
> performing other tasks to control diabetes is accessible to the blind, and
> insulin pens carry a disclaimer that they should not be used by the blind
> without supervision; and
> 
>  
> 
> WHEREAS, technology has been demonstrated to increase diabetes control in
> the sighted, and the same technology, made accessible to the blind would
> improve diabetes control among blind and visually impaired diabetics, and
> increase independence in maintaining such control; and
> 
>  
> 
> WHEREAS, the need for improved accessibility of lifesaving diabetes
> technology has been largely overlooked: Now, therefore,
> 
>  
> 
> BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa in convention
> assembled this sixth day of October, 2013, in the city of Altoona, Iowa,
> that the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa and its Diabetes Action
> Network division work closely with companies developing pens, pumps,
> glucometers, and other lifesaving diabetes control tools and technology to
> integrate accessibility for the blind into the design and manufacture of
> such items; and
> 
>  
> 
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa
> enlist the support of the American Diabetes Association, the American
> Association of Retired Persons, the American Association of Clinical
> Endocrinologists, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to
> establish and implement accessibility standards for diabetes technology; and
> 
> 
>  
> 
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa
> urge manufacturers of technology that provides information to the blind
> about diabetes management to recognize that creating technology useful only
> to the sighted creates a circumstance that discriminates against the blind,
> and urge such manufacturers further to recognize that the blind of Iowa will
> join with other blind people throughout the nation to take such action as
> may be necessary to end this discrimination; and
> 
>  
> 
> BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Iowa Diabetes Action Network publicize
> widely the inaccessibility of diabetes tools and technology as they are
> currently marketed, and the unnecessary hardship their inaccessibility
> creates in the lives of blind diabetics.
> 
>  
> 
> 
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