A few weeks ago, as part of the Roche Diabetes Social Media Summit, we had the pleasure of meeting and hearing from Jean-Claude Mbanya, the President of the International Diabetes Federation. Jean-Claude gave an impassioned speech at dinner about the plight of underprivileged children in developing countries, many of whom die because of lack of access to insulin. Which is shocking and devastating, considering it has been almost 90 years since the discovery of insulin.
Some background: Founded in 1950, IDF is an umbrella organization, made up of over 200 national diabetes associations in over 160 countries. IDF was an integral part in passing the UN Resolution on Diabetes in 2006, and is the organization that runs the Life for a Child program, which assists thousands of children in developing countries in getting insulin, diabetes supplies and healthcare. In the spring, the IDF recently came out with the International Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for People with Diabetes, and now they have recently launched the “O is for Outrage” 
postcard campaign — check it now out if you haven’t yet!
At the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions, directly after the Roche Summit, we had a chance to sit down for a talk with both Jean-Claude and his predecessor, Dr. Martin Silink, who is now the Chair of IDF’s Life for a Child program.
In our interview with Jean Claude, we discuss IDF’s mission, their goal for the UN Summit in September and how poverty affects children with diabetes (we hope the audio is OK for all, as we had a little trouble there):
In our interview with Martin Silink, we discuss the goal of Life for a Child, how you at home can get involved, and the future of the program:
Life for a Child has also produced two videos on the living conditions of children with diabetes in developing countries, which are heart-breaking to say the least. We at the ‘Mine enthusiastically support this organization and encourage you to do what you can to help these children.
Remember, no child should die from diabetes.
Also – you can catch more from IDF President Jean Claude Mbanya by tuning into the DSMA Blog Talk Radio program hosted by Cherise Shockley, Scott Johnson and George Simmons this Thursday, July 21 at 9pm EST!
Again I might mention, soon after I was diagnosed I read a study – Insulin for the world’s poorest countries (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10752719) where the authors write – “The life expectancy for a newly diagnosed patient with type 1 diabetes in some parts of Africa may be as short as 1 year.” Insulin has not only been around for almost a century, but it’s not that expensive to make.
No child should die because of type 1 diabetes.
I am passionate about LFAC….it stirs deep inside my soul, and I desperately want to help this global crisis.
I created a fundraiser, hoping to do something — ANYTHING — to make a difference.
http://www.candyheartsblog.com/p/life-for-child.html
As Kerri from six until me said in her post I felt spoiled rotten after listening to Jean Claude speak at the summit, my complaints on meters and test strips seemed trivial when there are others out there especially kids who are dying for lack of insulin, we really should and can do better to support this noble and worthy cause.
Remember, no child should die from diabetes. I could not agree more!