Press Releases

Contact:
Marilyn Fishman
Endocrine Fellows Foundation
877-877-6515

Endocrine Fellows Foundation Launches
New Education Initiative to Improve Diabetes Management

April 15, 2004— LOS ANGELES, CA —The Endocrine Fellows Foundation (EFF) today announced the creation of the Diabetes Training Forums for Endocrine Fellows – a unique initiative designed to educate Fellows in the final year of their fellowship on the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) newest standards of care, and provide vital instruction on diabetes management, metabolic syndrome and best practices. The Diabetes Training Forums, created collaboratively by EFF and DM Strategies, Inc., a diabetes education company, are an important new adjunct to the Fellows’ education, addressing prevention and lifetime management of type 2 diabetes as an addendum to previous medical training, which focuses on treating the complications of diabetes. The forums, supported by a medical educational grant from AstraZeneca, will be held four times over the next two years, with the first scheduled in Dallas on April 17-18.

“The EFF believes that addressing and managing the problems faced by persons with diabetes is a critical and unmet need, essential to the education of physicians,” said Sherman Holvey, M.D., president, board of directors, EFF. “Given the dramatic increase in the number of patients presenting with diabetes, coupled with the ADA’s recent move to encourage more aggressive and earlier intervention in diabetes treatment, the EFF feels it is critical to provide these Fellows with the training they need in order to have a positive impact on this dangerous disease area.”

Fellows will benefit from a curriculum taught by a diverse faculty comprised of experts in endocrinology, nursing, nutrition and behavior, covering the latest research on metabolic syndrome and expertise in caring for patients with diabetes with an interdisciplinary perspective. Additional Diabetes Training Forums will take place in October, 2004 in Washington, DC and in Los Angeles and Chicago in 2005.
“AstraZeneca recognizes the burden type 2 diabetes inflicts on patients and our support of the EFF’s training forums demonstrates our commitment to providing healthcare professionals with the necessary knowledge and tools to fight diabetes,” said Russ Esterline, development brand leader, diabetes, AstraZeneca U.S.

About Diabetes

According to the International Diabetes Federation, an estimated 194 million people worldwide were afflicted with diabetes by 2003 and that number was expected to increase to 333 million by 2025.i In the United States, 18.2 million people, or 6.3% of the population, have diabetes with nearly 5.2 million people unaware they have the disease.ii Diabetes cost the U.S. an estimated $132 billion in 2002 in medical expenditures and lost productivity.iii A 2002 report from the ADA concluded that better access to preventive care, more widespread diagnosis and more intensive disease management could significantly improve the quality of life for people with diabetes and potentially reduce national expenditures for health care services.

About The Endocrine Fellows Foundation

The non-profit EFF was established in 1990 to provide a support system for endocrine Fellows, helping them to expand their professional capabilities and broaden their exposure to research. To accomplish these goals, the EFF offers a variety of annual activities. Grants awarded by the Foundation allow Fellows to pursue research interests in endocrinology. Through visiting lecturers, Fellows have the opportunity to meet and gain insight from highly distinguished endocrinology experts. The annual Scientific Forums affords the opportunity for a faculty of noted experts to share clinical updates and research findings. DM Strategies, Inc., a consulting company with the mission of Changing the Way Diabetes is Treated, provides support to EFF, as well as other companies and organizations, in curriculum development, speaker recruitment, presentation integration, and development of educational materials.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), a proud supporter of the Endocrine Fellows Foundation's Diabetes Training Forums, is a leader in cardiovascular medicine with more than 40 years experience and a wide range of products, including treatments for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart failure, with new compounds in development for stroke prevention and type 2 diabetes. Through numerous partnerships with cardiovascular disease organizations, AstraZeneca is committed to providing education about the seriousness of this deadly disease and the preventative measures that can be taken to lower its associated risk factors.

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with healthcare sales of over $18.8 billion and leading positions in sales of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, oncology, neuroscience and respiratory products. In the United States, AstraZeneca is an $8.7 billion healthcare business with more than 11,000 employees. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global and European) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.

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(i) International Diabetes Federation. http://www.idf.org

(ii) American Diabetes Association. http://www.diabetes.org/about-diabetes.jsp

(iii) Report From The American Diabetes Association: Economic Costs of
Diabetes in the U.S. in 2002. Diabetes Care 26:917-932, 2003