Diabetes care access for children still lags in lower-income countries

Although insulin makers have launched several initiatives to improve access in dozens of low- and middle-income countries, the medicines reached only a small fraction of children and young people in these regions during a recent two-year period, a new analysis has found.

Specifically, less than 10% of the estimated 825,000 children and young people who needed type 1 diabetes treatment in these 71 countries were covered by access initiatives from the large insulin manufacturers — Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi — as well as Biocon, which markets biosimilar versions. Moreover, there were no initiatives in another 42 low- and middle-income countries.

Consequently, this patient population faces “gross inequities” concerning timely diagnosis and medications, because even when treatment is accessible, it falls below the standard of care offered elsewhere, according to the Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent nonprofit research organization that regularly evaluates drugmakers and their access plans.