The World Health Organization’s new Global Diabetes Compact aims to urgently step up efforts to prevent diabetes and treat those who need it – 100 years after the discovery of insulin.
The pact will be unveiled today at the Global Diabetes Summit, jointly hosted by the WHO and the Canadian government with support from the University of Toronto. During the event, the President of Kenya will join the Prime Ministers of Fiji, Norway and Singapore. WHO Global Ambassador for NCDs and Injuries, Michael R. Bloomberg; and health ministers from a number of countries, as well as diabetes experts and people with diabetes, to show how they will support this new collaboration. Other UN agencies, civil society partners and representatives from the private sector will also attend.
The risk of early death from diabetes increases
The need for urgent action against diabetes is clearer than ever. The number of diabetics has quadrupled in the last 40 years. It is the only major noncommunicable disease that increases the risk of dying early rather than decreasing it. And a high proportion of people who are seriously ill with COVID-19 in hospital have diabetes. The Global Diabetes Compact will help catalyze political commitment to measures to improve the accessibility and affordability of life-saving drugs for diabetes, as well as their prevention and diagnosis. “
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization
“Canada has a proud history of diabetes research and innovation. From the discovery of insulin in 1921 to a hundred years later, we have continued to work to help people with diabetes,” said Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu. “But we cannot tackle diabetes alone. We all need to share knowledge and promote international collaboration to help people with diabetes live longer, healthier lives – in Canada and around the world.”
Urgent action needed to improve access to affordable insulin
One of the most pressing areas of work is to improve access to diabetes diagnostic tools and drugs, especially insulin, in low and middle income countries.
The introduction of a pilot program for prequalification of insulin by the WHO in 2019 was an important step. The insulin market is currently dominated by three companies. Prequalifying insulin, which is manufactured by more manufacturers, could help increase the availability of quality assured insulin in countries that are currently not meeting demand. In addition, discussions are ongoing with manufacturers of insulin and other diabetes medicines and diagnostic tools on ways that could help meet demand at prices countries can afford.
Insulin is not the only scarce commodity: Many people have difficulty getting and affording blood glucose meters and test strips.
In addition, about half of all adults with type 2 diabetes go undiagnosed, and 50% of people with type 2 diabetes are not getting the insulin they need. This creates an avoidable risk of debilitating and irreversible complications such as early death, limb amputation, and loss of vision.
Innovation will be one of the core components of the pact, with an emphasis on developing and evaluating low-cost technologies and digital solutions for diabetes care.
Agree on global goals
The pact will also focus on catalyzing progress by setting global coverage targets for diabetes care. A “global price” will quantify the costs and benefits of achieving these new goals. The pact will also work to meet governments’ commitments to mainstream diabetes prevention and treatment into primary health care and as part of universal health insurance packages.
“One of the main goals of the Global Diabetes Compact is to bring together important actors from the public and private sectors as well as people with diabetes on a common agenda in order to provide new impetus and jointly develop solutions,” said Dr. Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases at WHO. “The ‘all hands on deck’ approach to the COVID-19 response shows us what can be achieved when different sectors work together to find solutions to an urgent public health problem.”
The summit audience will hear from people with diabetes from India, Lebanon, Singapore, the United Republic of Tanzania, the United States and Zimbabwe about the challenges they face in treating their diabetes and how they can be overcome. Part of the summit was designed together with people with diabetes and provides them with a global platform to explain what they expect from the pact and how they would like to be involved in its further development and implementation.
“It is time to provide the impetus to not just live with diabetes, but thrive with it,” said Dr. Apoorva Gomber, a type 1 diabetes attorney attending the summit. “We must seize the opportunity of the pact with both hands and use it to ensure that in a few years we can look back and say that our countries are finally able to provide healthy and productive lives for people with diabetes.”
Source:
The World Health Organization
