WHERE
DIABETES SUPPLIES ARE EXPENSIVE MORE THAN LIFE
In Kenya,
Nairobi city 4-year-old Nathania
wakes up before sunrise. While other children prepare for school, her first
task each day is survival
through testing her blood sugar levels, injecting insulin given her beta cells
are unable to perform normal duties. Nathania has lived with Type
1 Diabetes (T1D) since she was
1 year of age. To stay alive, she needs insulin, a glucometer, test
strips, and needles/syringes — but these are luxuries in her world.
Her family travels for 20.7kilometers, about 1hour to using public means the nearest
clinic with doctors that are trained
specialists for children with diabetes, and some of the supplies are free, although
some are often out of stock such as insulin. Sometimes it doesn’t arrive
for weeks. When it does, it is
not enough for everyone who visits the clinic — if we buy over the counter, it cost more
than most of the parents earn
in a month. Without refrigeration at home, most of the people living with diabetes in Africa cannot store
it safely. Some nights, the insulin spoils in the heat, and most of the children will inject spoiled
insulin or have no choice but to go without, oftentimes opting for oral
tablets which do not in fact treat T1D.
Monitoring her blood sugar is another battle. Test strips
are sold in small packs, but the cost is unbearable. If we do not get them for free at the clinic,
most parents will buy just five strips for the week, forcing most of the people to test only when she
feels faint or dizzy. Unlike children in wealthier countries who check their
glucose levels multiple times a day, most of the children in low-resource settings are left guessing.
Every decision, when to eat, when to rest, becomes a gamble with their life.
At school, some
children struggle to concentrate. Teachers cannot
understand why a young child
with T1D is often tired or why suddenly needs to sit down. Friends
sometimes tease them,
not knowing that her body depends on medicine she rarely has access to. Teachers have no education about
diabetes, so most children suffer under the system.
In most of
the families, syringes or pen needles are reused repeatedly, sometimes,
each is used for more than a week because buying new ones is too costly. Each
prick carries the risk of infection, but the alternative is no insulin at all.
This is the reality for thousands of children and young adults
across Sub-Saharan Africa living with diabetes. In many places, insulin,
discovered over 100 years ago, is still a dream beyond reach. Health systems
face shortages, and patients bear the weight of high costs, long travel
distances, and inadequate education about the disease.
Yet, amidst the struggle, there is resilience. Parents,
communities, and advocacy groups are raising their voices, calling for better
supply chains, affordable medicines, and awareness. Nathania at her young age of four, has a dream
of becoming a doctor one day, to help children like her who should not have to
choose between poverty and survival. Nathania is a change-maker, and I believe
that she is deserving of good health, and a future free from uncertainty and
diabetes complications. As her mother, I urge our decision makers to make
decisions that protect our children and their future. I urge our leaders to
work together, alongside communities of people with lived experience, to build
multisectoral systems that solve these challenges equitably, effectively, and
sustainably.
Until then, each day is a fight for survival.
A fight to get all the tools, information, healthcare and support that Nathania
needs to grow up healthy and strong. This is a fight for all of us because
non-communicable diseases greatly impact majority of our families. This is a
fight that we all can and should commit to so that we can design a future that
serves and protects us all. A future we can all be proud of. Have you been
impacted by non-communicable diseases in your life, family or community? Send
your story through annienjenga@gmail.com
so we can work together.
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