World Diabetes Day 2022

Last week we marked World Diabetes Day, supporting the global community’s continued call for access to diabetes care.

Today, one in 10 adults live with diabetes, which is an estimated half a billion people worldwide. Almost half of them do not know they have it. An equally staggering statistic shows that one in three people with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has never had their blood glucose measured.

Yet tools for diagnosis and management exist, and education is key to raising awareness and making sure tools are available and used effectively.

FIND is working to increase the availability, affordability and uptake of essential diagnostics – to reduce premature mortality and improve the quality of life for people living with diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions.

Our focus is on improving access to glucose monitoring devices, so that people can track their blood glucose levels to make decisions to support their health, from adjustments in medication to changes in diet and lifestyle. In line with the WHO Global Diabetes Compact objectives, we are working with people with lived experience of diabetes in LMICs, to design and develop strategies that can address access barriers to glucose monitoring technologies.

Earlier this month, we participated in the Diabetes Awareness Movement in India – an event organized by the Diabetes Fighters Trust where we shared our insights on the role of diagnostics in diabetes management. On Monday, we were pleased to join the WHO World Diabetes Day webinar to discuss the Global Diabetes Targets.

To support the voices of people with diabetes who face limited access to quality affordable self-monitoring diagnostics, our colleague Lejla Druškić Mustafić – a FIND consultant who lives with type 1 diabetes and is a nurse and diabetes advocate – co-authored an op-ed with Beza Yoseph at CHAI in Ethiopia, on making blood glucose monitoring accessible to all.

And finally, in case you missed it back in September: head here to rewatch our series of coffee chats and webinar that gathered experts to explore the multiple facets of diagnostics for NCDs in LMICs.

Beatrice Vetter, Deputy Director, Non-communicable Diseases Programme

Sarabjit Chadha, Regional Technical Director, India & South-East Asia