Mississauga Joins Global Fight Against Type 2 Diabetes

Today, in advance of World Diabetes Day on Sunday, November 14, Mayor Crombie and members of Council signed the Urban Diabetes Declaration, making Mississauga the only Canadian municipality participating in the Cities Changing Diabetes (CCD) Programme.

The rise of Type 2 diabetes is a growing concern in Mississauga. In June, City Council received a corporate report recommending the City’s membership in the CCD Programme. As a CCD member, Mississauga joins 39 other cities around the world who are working to help prevent and control urban diabetes.

“We are very excited to join the CCD Programme and work towards developing a made-in-Mississauga Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Strategy,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease with serious consequences that affects approximately one in 10 adults in Peel Region. Health statistics tell us that rates of this disease are significantly higher in Peel than in the rest of Ontario. This is placing an added strain on our public health agencies and health care systems, which have been stretched to the limit over the past 18 months.”

The City’s CCD Programme will run over the next three to five years and will provide Mississauga with tools and resources, and develop community and industry partners to address the rise of Type 2 diabetes in Mississauga.

“We recognize that no single organization can tackle this challenge alone,” added Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Membership in the CCD Programme will help us understand our unique urban diabetes challenge and work with partners in the community on a strategy to prevent and reduce the rise of Type 2 diabetes in our city.”

Approximately 53.6 per cent of Peel Region residents are overweight or have obesity, which is the single biggest modifiable risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes. Additionally, 51.3 per cent of adults in Peel Region identify as Asian, South Asian, Arab, Black and Hispanic ethnic groups and Indigenous peoples – groups that are at increased risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

“2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto. While we have come a long way in the fight against diabetes, there is more work to be done. Participating in the CCD Programme will enable the City to access insights and information from other cities around the world while also considering factors that are unique to Mississauga,” said Paul Mitcham, City Manager and Chief Administrative Officer. “We will use this information to work with the community and stakeholders to build a meaningful Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Strategy that contains community-based actions to help reduce the rate of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in Mississauga.”

The City has already implemented a number of programs and initiatives that contribute to diabetes prevention and healthy living including the adoption of the Region of Peel’s six Core Elements of the built environment that impact health. The City has also implemented a Healthy Food and Beverage Policy for Recreation facilities, a healthy-by-design approach for neighbourhood development, and continues to promote active transportation and healthy lifestyles. Mississauga also offers a variety of public fitness and wellness programs.

“Diabetes is a complex and challenging disease that requires a collaborative approach to bend the curve. Cities Changing Diabetes is a public-private partnership programme that addresses the greatest vulnerabilities and urban health needs providing a range of prevention initiatives,” said Adam Marsella, Director of External Affairs at Novo Nordisk Canada and Canadian Spokesperson for CCD.  “Cities are the front line of the diabetes challenge: It’s where more than half of the world’s population lives, and where two in three people with diabetes reside. The situation is different in every city, which is why we’ve developed a model that any city can use to understand the scale of the diabetes challenge. We applaud the City of Mississauga for joining this imperative initiative, and look forward to making progress together.”

Over the past several months, Mississauga has engaged with stakeholders to discuss the city’s diabetes challenges. Community consultations will begin early in 2022 to seek input into the development of a prevention strategy tailored to the unique needs of Mississauga.

For more information about CCD Mississauga, visit mississauga.ca/ccd.

Background

CCD was launched in 2014 by the Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, University College London and Novo Nordisk to address the growth of Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Today, the programme has established partnerships in 39 cities around the world, with Mississauga joining as city number 40, and has the potential to reach more than 175 million individuals to help prevent and control urban diabetes.

 Additional Quote:

“We are thrilled that Mississauga is joining the global Cities Changing Diabetes programme – bringing the total number of partner cities to 40. The city is ambitious, has so much can-do energy, and will inspire the other cities. My colleagues and I look forward to the collaboration”, says Niels Lund, vice president Global Prevention and Health Promotion in Novo Nordisk.

About Cities Changing Diabetes

Cities Changing Diabetes is a partnership programme to accelerate the prevention of diabetes and obesity by addressing the systemic change in urban environments: which are home to two-thirds of people with diabetes. The programme has set out to bend the curve on diabetes – and that means setting a bold goal that no more than one in 10 people globally should live with diabetes by 2045. More than 100 local partners – including city leaders and ministries, academia, diabetes associations, health insurers, community groups and business corporations – collaborate across disciplines and in new forms of public–private partnerships to map the diabetes problem, share solutions and drive actions to bend the curve on urban diabetes. The programme was initiated in 2014 by three global partners: University College London, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen and Novo Nordisk.

Today, more than 35 cities globally have joined the partnership, including Strasbourg, Beirut, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Aarhus, Malmø, Milan, Rome, Bari, Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Naples, Lisbon, Madrid, Manchester, Leicester, Warsaw, Krakow, Belgrade, Berlin, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Koriyama, Asahi, Jakarta, Seoul, Moscow, Houston, Philadelphia, Johannesburg, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Merida, and Mexico City.

For more information, visit citieschangingdiabetes.com or follow CCD on Twitter or YouTube.

About Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat diabetes and other serious chronic diseases such as obesity and rare blood and endocrine disorders. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 44,000 people in 80 countries and markets its own products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.ca, Twitter, or YouTube.

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