Type 1 Diabetes Social Injustice

Diabetes is not an easy disease to manage. It takes effort, time and extreme calculations and even then you do not always receive the results you put so much effort to achieve. Type 1 Diabetes is a disease that no one asked to have and would wish it away in a flash if they could. Diabetes requires a lot of motivation and hope to keep you going through the tough times. But, what if you don't have the basics to manage your diabetes such as education, supplies, doctors and support team...where do you even begin to try and live a healthy life?

Today I had the opportunity to go present to a social justice class about diabetes costs and its control by pharmaceutical companies. I was quite nervous, to say the least, but it went well. Over the past year, I have been researching about the overall cost of living with diabetes and the impacts it has on the individual and their family. Since 2002 to 2013 insulin prices have increased by about 200%, an increase from about $231 to $736. Pharmaceutical companies have full control over cost of diabetes supplies and keep bumping up prices as the percentage of newly diabetics increase. Profit is all they care about! For the majority (80%) of type 1 diabetics that live in low or middle-income families, those costs can be a huge burden on the family. It is unacceptable that a life-sustaining drug (insulin) discovered in 1921 is still out of reach for so many. With education and proper management those living with diabetes can lead a healthy life, however, too many in third world countries diabetes is a death sentence.

For these individuals having access to the supplies can be a struggle either they need to travel a couple hours weekly to purchase them or their parents / themselves need to work relentless hours to be able to afford them it can leave them without hope for the future because carelessly managing blood sugars have serious complications such as organ damage, amputations, kidney damage, blindness or even death. If a family in Brazil has to spend 82% of their income just on supplies how do you expect them to survive and manage their money to pay rent, bills and raise a family? When 1.3 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day what do you expect them to do to afford a vial of insulin?

Change really starts by one person at a time. Be that person...help out some of the greatest organizations tackling this problem such as T1 International and Insulin For Life who advocates and support t1s in need. Use social media for by sharing your thoughts and spreading awareness about this issue. Share this blog using the hashtag #Type1DiabetesSocialInjustice or reach out to me and I can help you get in contact with the correct people to help support this issue. Together we can work towards seeing a day where every diabetic has the required supplies available at their fingertips.

US Prices