Governor Stein Proclaims Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes Awareness Month 

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, diabetes is a serious disease without a cure, and about 38 million people in the United States have been diagnosed; and in North Carolina, more than 1 million adults have been diagnosed by a health care professional, and more than 50,000 North Carolinians are diagnosed annually; and

Whereas, diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in North Carolina, yet approximately one in five people with diabetes do not know they have the disease; and

Whereas, complications from diabetes include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, hearing loss, and amputation; and type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that requires lifelong insulin therapy and daily management; and

Whereas, more than one in three North Carolinians may have prediabetes, a condition that puts them at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes, which accounts for approximately 95 percent of diagnosed diabetes cases in adults in the United States that can be prevented or delayed through participation in a diabetes prevention lifestyle change program; and

Whereas, North Carolinians can visit the DiabetesFreeNC.gov website to find out if they are at risk for type 2 diabetes; those living with diabetes can visit the DiabetesMangementNC.gov website to find a diabetes self-management education and support service near them; and

Whereas, the North Carolina Diabetes Advisory Council collaborates with partners across the state to advance diabetes awareness, education, prevention, equitable access to care, and improved health outcomes for all North Carolinians; and

Whereas, an increase in community awareness of risk factors and symptoms related to diabetes can improve the likelihood that people with, or at risk for, diabetes will get the attention they need before suffering devastating complications;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim November 2026 as “Diabetes Awareness Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-sixth day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.