Improving Access to Diabetes Treatment

The interview focuses on the key findings and recommendations laid out in the report, which evaluates how pharmaceutical companies are working to expand access to diabetes care for children and young people (CYP) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).  

Claudia Martínez, Director of Research at the Access to Medicine Foundation, spoke about the various programmes outlined in the report, including their goals, strategies, structures and the products they supply to CYP living with T1D.  She also touched on critical barriers preventing companies’ access programmes from reaching more CYP in LMICs, in addition to potential ways of overcoming such obstacles. 

Sustainability and the provision of newer, more advanced treatments were other issues discussed, with Claudia emphasising that collaboration – both between companies and their partners, as well as between companies and governments – is essential for ensuring that CYP living with T1D are not only able to gain access to effective products but also retain it. 

“I hope we get to a point where no child or young person misses out on diabetes care just because of where they live, or because their country doesn’t happen to be part of a company-backed programme. Everyone should have access to affordable insulin and basic tools like syringes and glucose monitors —whether they live in a big city, a small rural town, or anywhere in Africa or Europe,” the interview quoted Claudia.