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Here are some sobering health insurance statistics:

• Latinos make up 15 percent of the United States population.
• Hispanics are the least likely of any ethnic or racial group to have insurance.
• 34 percent of all Hispanics do not have any health insurance.

According to an article by Mary Sanchez on Poder360.com:

This is true despite their [Hispanics] higher-than-average presence in the workforce. So their faint representation in the national conversation on reform is, at best, worrisome to some, and a source of outright outrage to others.

According to the American Diabetes Associations, Hispanics have the second highest rate of diabetes in the United States:

After adjusting for population age differences, 2004-2006 national survey data for people diagnosed with diabetes, aged 20 years or older include the following prevalence by race/ethnicity:

• 6.6% of non-Hispanic whites
• 7.5% of Asian Americans
• 10.4% of Hispanics
• 11.8% of non-Hispanic blacks

Among Hispanics rates were:

• 8.2% for Cubans
• 11.9% for Mexican Americans

12.6% for Puerto Ricans.

And, according to the United States Department of Human & Health Services:

According to a national examination survey, Mexican Americans are twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with diabetes by a physician.  They have higher rates of end-stage renal disease, caused by diabetes, and they are 50% more likely to die from diabetes as non-Hispanic whites.

• Mexican American adults were 2 times more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnosed with diabetes by a physician.
• In 2002, Hispanics were 1.5 times as likely to start treatment for end-stage renal disease related to diabetes, compared to non-Hispanic white men.

In 2005, Hispanics were 1.6 times as likely as non-Hispanic Whites to die from diabetes.

Now is a great time for all people with diabetes to take advantage of World Diabetes Day to promote better awareness.  For more information on how you can get involved, visit wddusa.org.