American Diabetes Month Begins: ADA Campaign Says a Diagnosis Is Not the End of the Story
November is American Diabetes Month. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) announced its 2026 national campaign on October 29 from Arlington, Virginia: throughout the month, the association will run an educational and awareness effort across community settings, health care points of contact, sports, cinemas and online platforms. Its central message is that a diabetes diagnosis is not the end of the story — with today's care and support, people with diabetes can keep writing it.
ADA chief executive officer Charles 'Chuck' Henderson said the campaign celebrates the progress made in diabetes care, honors the contributions that made that progress possible, and pushes for continued breakthroughs. The ADA, the nation's leading voluntary health organization fighting to end diabetes, anchors its annual observance each November.
The stakes are in the numbers. According to the CDC's National Diabetes Statistics Report, about 40.1 million people in the United States have diabetes, counting both diagnosed and undiagnosed cases, and roughly 97.6 million adults — more than one in three — have prediabetes. Without intervention, many people with prediabetes will progress to type 2 diabetes within a few years, while research shows that losing 5 to 7 percent of body weight can prevent or substantially delay it.
For the public, the ADA offers a free 60-second Type 2 Diabetes Risk Test, a short questionnaire that helps people identify risk factors worth discussing with a health care professional; the association stresses that the test screens for risk and does not diagnose diabetes. For people already managing the condition, it points to resources on complications and daily care, a food hub with recipes and meal-planning ideas, and ADA-recognized diabetes self-management education and support programs — all aimed at the 'ABCs' of control: A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol.
The month also includes World Diabetes Day on November 14, for which the International Diabetes Federation has adopted 'Early Action on Diabetes' as its 2026-2027 theme. Health agencies say November is a good moment for anyone with risk factors — family history, excess weight, age 35 or older, or known prediabetes — to ask a doctor about screening.
(Source: American Diabetes Association)
Source: American Diabetes Association
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 血糖仪检测（资料图）。图片来自 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / A blood glucose meter in use (file photo). Image via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
