Kenya to set up more diabetes type 1 clinics targeting children, adolescents

Kenya is seeking to establish additional diabetes type 1 clinics to reach more children and adolescents living with the disease.

The ‘Changing Diabetes in Children Project’ will be funded by Novo Nordisk, a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company at a cost of Sh2.4 billion for the next three years.

Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition where the pancreas makes little or no insulin.

Priority will be given to capacity building for healthcare workers.

The project aims to ensure supply of medical and laboratory equipment as well as provision of human insulin and blood glucose monitoring equipment at no cost to children and adolescents.

Also on the agenda is the establishment of a registry for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their families will be educated.

“The programme’s long-term aspiration is to not only improve the lives of the children enrolled in the project but to find ways of integrating programme components into the country’s healthcare delivery,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said.

“We aim to utilise our respective competencies and strengths with a view to improving the well-being of people living with diabetes in Kenya through sustainable partnerships and collaborations as well as improving diabetes care for children with type 1 diabetes in the country,” the CS  added.

In the partnership, the Kenyan government will be obligated to ensure that type 1 diabetes is included in the national agenda for non-communicable diseases in line with sustainable development goals.

 Novo Nordisk will be required to provide relevant diagnostic, screening and monitoring equipment to be used for organisation and operation of the diabetes clinics and patient registry.

It will also be required to provide free human insulin to cover the treatment needs of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents up to 25 years of age in health facilities supported by the project.

The company will further be expected to provide support for training of healthcare professionals in the management of type 1 diabetes and support awareness campaigns in collaboration with different stakeholders.

It will support diabetes self-management education for children, adolescents and their families, including developing CDiC Project patient education materials as well as support the improvement of infrastructure in some diabetes clinics as determined by the Ministry of Health.

According to Mayo Clinic, even though the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, usually, the body's own immune system, which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses destroys the insulin-producing (islet) cells in the pancreas.

Once a large number of islet cells are destroyed, the body will produce little or no insulin.

Lack of insulin to let glucose into the cells leads to sugar build-up in the bloodstream, which can further cause life-threatening complications.

Over time, type 1 diabetes complications can affect major organs in the body such as the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys.