Ad Council and Leading Diabetes Organizations Launch First Campa

A1C is an important tool to reduce the risk of deadly complications like heart attack and stroke

The Ad Council, the nation's leading producer of public service advertisements (PSAs), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF), with the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), are launching the first ever national public education campaign geared to raise awareness of A1C, a key indicator of diabetes management. The new campaign was unveiled today by the Ad Council, ADA and JDRF.

The unprecedented collaboration will educate Americans with diabetes on the critical importance of knowing their A1C. A1C is a test that measures a patient's blood glucose level over the previous three months that might also help predict serious health complications like heart attack and stroke. People with diabetes must know their A1C level to manage diabetes, and the goal for most people with diabetes is to maintain a consistent A1C score of less than 7 percent. Unfortunately, many people do not know their A1C level. For example, a New York City Department of Health report found that in 2003 eighty-nine percent of patients with diabetes in New York City did not know their A1C level. National figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that 63 percent of all diabetes patients have A1C levels above 7 percent.