Novo Nordisk Education Foundation and Roche join hands to enhance access to care for children with Type 1 diabetes in India

Bengaluru : Novo Nordisk Education Foundation (NNEF) and Roche Diabetes Care India (RDC) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve access to care for underprivileged children living with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) in India. This partnership is part of a global collaboration between the two parties and will impact close to 4,000 children with Type 1 diabetes in India. It will also provide education and training for doctors and nurses, and enhance awareness about diabetes and its management among children with T1D and their families. Support will include free diabetes monitoring and management kits including insulin pens, needles, insulin cartridges, glucometers, strips, and lancets. The partnership will provide care to people living with diabetes across specified centres affiliated with NNEF in 12 states and 1 union territory including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir.

This partnership is part of NNEF’s Changing Diabetes® in Children (CDiC) programme – a public-private partnership that provides free life-saving medicine and supplies for children and young people living with Type 1 diabetes in low- and middle-income countries up to 25 years of age.

India is home to the second largest number (74.2 million) of adults with diabetes worldwide. More significantly, nearly 53.1% of India’s diabetes population remains undiagnosed. Further, at an estimated 229,400, the country also ranks among top 10 nations with the highest number of children and adolescents having Type 1 diabetes (0–19 years)¹. This data brings to fore the urgent need for awareness, early diagnosis and therapy adherence through a sustainable healthcare mechanism.

Mr. Vikrant Shrotriya, Managing Trustee, Novo Nordisk Education Foundation, said “At NNEF, we believe that everyone deserves access to timely diabetes care, especially vulnerable patients who may lack access. Our collaboration with Roche Diabetes Care India is a step in this direction and will provide access to diabetes management and care for close to 4,000 underprivileged children who live with Type 1 diabetes. This partnership comes on the back of a long and successful collaboration between CDiC and Roche globally to create healthier lives for those living with diabetes. I am grateful to all our partners who have collaborated with us on this journey. Working together is the best way to tackle healthcare access challenges at scale and create real ground level impact. Clearly, we are not alone in this fight to defeat diabetes.”

Talking at the event, Mr. Omar Sherief Mohammad, Cluster Head – India, Middle East, and Africa, Roche Diabetes Care, said “Roche Diabetes Care is committed to enhancing access to diabetes care so that we can bring true relief to people with diabetes everywhere. We believe in the power of collective impact and that united we can create sustainable impact that goes beyond just providing medical support. It involves creating an eco-system that enables early diagnosis and treatment, and provides the required socio-economic support critical to therapy adherence. We are very proud to partner with NNEF, who has been dedicated towards this cause. Our initiatives in India with CDiC are part of our shared global efforts in creating such an ecosystem of care to provide better access to diabetes management to children with Type 1 diabetes.”

Roshni, who lives with Type 1 diabetes and is part of NNEF’s CDiC programme, said “I am amongst the fortunate people in India whose lives have been transformed due to access to timely treatment and essential care. There are so many people with Type 1 diabetes like me who do not have access to the required healthcare facilities and are hence not able to manage their diabetes well. I extend my heartfelt gratitude towards NNEF and RDC for providing better healthcare access and changing our lives.”

Initiatives by NNEF already touch the lives of nearly 6,000 children with T1D in India.