The Legislature finds and declares that the rising incidence of diabetes mellitus and its associated complications involving the eyes, kidneys, heart, blood vessels and nerves is causing concern among public health officials and private practitioners who feel that it is imperative that new initiatives be developed to combat this disease which is so costly in human, social, and economic terms.

The Legislature further finds that the authorization to make permanent the existing comprehensive Diabetes Control Program within the New Jersey State Department of Health is in the best interests of the citizens of the State of New Jersey in an effort to minimize the incidence of death and disability so often attributed to diabetes.

L. 1987, c. 10, s. 1.