Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson joined health advocates and community leaders on April 30 to call on New York City to declare a Diabetes Health Emergency and implement a Citywide Diabetes Reduction Plan, citing the disease’s devastating toll on poor and minority communities and the need for a diabetes prevention program, especially in the Bronx.
Gibson spoke at a Diabetes Action Summit held at BronxCare Hospital, co-hosted by her office and Health People, a Bronx-based nonprofit focused on health equity. The summit brought renewed urgency to the city’s diabetes crisis, which affects an estimated 1 million residents and has led to a sharp rise in diabetes-related complications, including lower-limb amputations and dialysis.
“Diabetes is not just a health issue — it’s a crisis that is devastating families and disproportionately impacting our Black, Brown, and low-income communities, especially here in the Bronx,” Gibson said. “We are sounding the alarm and calling on New York City to declare a Diabetes Health Emergency and implement a comprehensive, Citywide Diabetes Reduction Plan. This is a moment for bold leadership. The cost of inaction is too high — in lives lost, limbs amputated, and billions of dollars drained from our healthcare system. We cannot afford to wait. The time to act is now.”
The summit highlighted a proposal to secure a Medicaid waiver that would allow public funds to cover community-based diabetes prevention training—an approach supporters say would reduce healthcare costs and save thousands of lives. The waiver would permit Medicaid to cover the cost of training residents as to how to lower their blood sugar levels—thereby reducing the skyrocketing number of amputations and preventative deaths.
Chris Norwood, founder of Health People, praised Gibson for spotlighting the devastating impact of diabetes in the Bronx. Health People, prior to funding cuts when the pandemic struck, had successfully administered a Diabetes Self-Management Program to 2,000 Bronx residents across NYCHA developments, homeless shelters, and other community sites.
Among the speakers was hip hop pioneer Doctor Dré, who shared his personal struggle with diabetes. Dré lost both his eyesight and his right leg to complications from the disease.
“Diabetes is devastating, widespread, and preventable,” he said. “I know myself now that if I had good self-care education, I could have avoided having my right leg amputated.”
He urged the city to expand preventive efforts such as the Diabetes Self-Management Program, which teaches residents how to control their blood sugar and prevent long-term complications.
“By making preventive programs like the Diabetes Self-Management Program widely available, New Yorkers can lower their blood sugar levels and avoid the kinds of complications that I now live with,” he added. “That is why I have teamed up with Chris Norwood and Health People to make sure everybody knows there is a better way.”
Speakers also urged the city’s Board of Health to act on the Citywide Diabetes Reduction Plan 2024, a report commissioned by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and authored by Norwood and C. Virginia Fields, founder of Black Health. The plan includes recommendations to expand peer-led education, strengthen safety-net healthcare systems, and address racial and social inequities in healthcare access.
They have launched a petition calls on city officials to:
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Expand diabetes education and support communities
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Saturate high-risk neighborhoods with group interventions
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Strengthen support for safety-net hospitals and clinics
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Invest in racial justice and nutrition security in historically underfunded areas
