Southeast Ohio and all Appalachian areas deal with health care problems everyday. But the Appalachian Regional Commission and Ohio University are working together to combat a problem that more severely affects people in Appalachia -- diabetes.
Diabetes affects 6 percent of people nationwide. But in Appalachia, 12 to 15 percent of people are affected. The death rate for people ages 35 to 64 in Appalachian Ohio is about 16 percent, nationally it is 12 percent.
In order to help lower the risk of diabetes in the area U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R- Ohio, was in Athens Monday to announce a $75,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant to start a program focusing on education, prevention and treatment of diabetes.
The program will be run through the Appalachian Rural Health Institute at OU's College of Osteopathic Medicine -- and the university will contribute $25,000. The project will feature a wide variety of partnerships, including help from the Edison Biotechnical Institute, the Voinovich Center and the Centers for Disease Control.
Director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia Joy Padgett said it would be collaborations that help people overcome the health care problems in the region.
The power of partnerships like these is incredible
" Padgett said. There's nothing we can't overcome."
Ohio is the only state that matches federal funds dollar for dollar, said Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachia Regional Commission Ann Pope. She also said the school of Osteopathic Medicine make a real difference for health care in this area" and that she was working to replicate the commitment it and OU had to the Appalachian area in other regions.
