Diabetes treatment > Access and supply

The latest statistics suggest that in the future the majority of people with diabetes will live in developing countries. There are an estimated 35 million people living with diabetes in India, for example, and it is estimated that this number will rise to more than 73 million by 2025. Sadly, it follows that the majority of people with diabetes complications will come from countries whose health systems are not able to deliver quality diabetes care.

The first practical use of insulin by Banting and Best in 1921 heralded a medical revolution. Overnight, type 1 diabetes went from being a uniformly fatal disease to a manageable disorder. Thousands of people around the world have received awards for surviving 50 years on insulin – some reaching 80 years. Insulin is classified by WHO as an essential drug. Yet, 85 years after its discovery, untold thousands of people with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes in developing countries die each year because they can neither readily access nor afford insulin.

DREAM Trust is a non-government organization and registered charity in Nagpur, central India. In this region and indeed throughout the Indian sub-continent and the developing world, covering the medication needs of a child with diabetes requires many families to commit a quarter of their monthly income. The principal objective of DREAM Trust is to respond to these needs by providing insulin, accessories and healthcare free of charge to poor children with type 1 diabetes.

At 7.59 am local time on 26 December 2004, a mighty earthquake rocked the floor of the Indian Ocean just northwest of Sumatra, triggering a series of large and powerful tsunamis that killed nearly a quarter of a million people – 168 000 in Indonesia alone. The tsunami decimated towns and cities from Indonesia, Thailand and the north-western coast of Malaysia to Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, thousands of kilometres away, and as far as Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa.

I am a forty-seven year old white male living in Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA. For most of my life, I have lived in either southeast Michigan or northwest Ohio. I hold a Masters Degree and Bachelors Degree in Geology. For the last 17 years I have been employed in some form or another in the environmental resources divisions of major US car manufacturers. But neither my studies nor my employment record prepared me for the difficulties I have faced and the adversity I continue to endure in attempting to manage my diabetes.

Diabetes is finally emerging from the shadows thanks largely to the recent adoption by the UN General Assembly of a landmark Resolution on diabetes. This Resolution, which recognizes the severity of diabetes and encourages Member States to develop national policies for the prevention, treatment and care of diabetes, is closely linked to the UN Millennium Development Goals. One of the UN’s targets for 2015, Millennium Goal number 4, is to reduce child mortality worldwide.

When IDF brings together the global diabetes community at a World Diabetes Congress, it does so with a number of key objectives, which include raising overall diabetes awareness, sharing innovative ideas and best practices, and helping to build and consolidate networks – in line with the Federation’s mission to promote care, prevention and a cure for diabetes worldwide.

In many countries, young people work effectively as advocates for a range of causes, from inner-city regeneration to anti-bullying and smoking cessation. An IDF initiative aimed to engage Youth Ambassadors in diabetes advocacy worldwide and specifically to participate at as many levels as possible in IDF’s global awareness campaign ’Unite For Diabetes’. In this article, representatives from the group describe the principles and objectives of the IDF Youth Ambassadors programme and make a call for increased involvement of young people in diabetes advocacy.

Diabetes has become a global health problem, reaching epidemic proportions worldwide with serious implications for health and well-being. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that by 2025, almost 350 million people will have diabetes. People who are most vulnerable to this chronic disease include those living in developing countries, and members of minority ethnic groups and socio-economically disadvantaged people in developed countries.