Preparations for a possible bird flu pandemic have dominated the news recently, but health officials will gather here next week to determine strategies for combating a here-and-now epidemic: diabetes.

The more than 200 medical, insurance and public health experts attending Monday's meeting will work toward developing the state's first comprehensive diabetes control plan.

The plan could include development of systems that would not only count how many people have diabetes but also track their treatment. It could help standardize practices and provide opportunities for information sharing throughout the state, said Linda Siminerio, director of the University of Pittsburgh's Diabetes Institute.

"Diabetes is an epidemic," said Linda Siminerio, director of the University of Pittsburgh's Diabetes Institute. "We have to be concerned not only from a humanistic point of view, but also from a cost perspective."

A state health department report says that 660,000 adults and 4,800 children in Pennsylvania have diabetes. According to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nationally nearly 21 million people have the disease and 41 million have prediabetic conditions.

Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death in Allegheny County, according to the state Department of Health.

Others states, such as Washington and Florida, are also doing statewide diabetes planning. Michigan's plan includes developing a public awareness campaign, creating a statewide consumer advisory group and reducing health disparities in minority groups.

"What we want to do is make sure we're doing quality care and providing quality services for people with diabetes in our communities," Dr. Siminerio explained.

Speakers at Monday's meeting in the UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Shadyside, include Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the CDC's diabetes program, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Calvin Johnson, Rep. John Murtha and others.

Afternoon breakout sessions will focus on topics such as surveillance and epidemiology, standards and practices, evaluation, and policy, Dr. Siminerio said. Those working groups will meet periodically in the next year.

"We won't know the scope of the problem for each group until we get them together," she said. Then, they'll be able to identify objectives to fit into an overall plan.

The upcoming meeting will be the first of what is anticipated to be an annual event.

"This is just the first one to plant the seed," Dr. Siminerio said. "I think a year from now, the next summit will be four times or five times as large at this one."