Empowering Children with Type 1 Diabetes in Africa

(3BL Media) September 7, 2012 - On September 7 2012 the Changing Diabetes® in Children Dialogue Posters, an education resource to help guide the treatment dialogue between healthcare professionals and children with type 1 diabetes and their families, is being launched. The posters are one of four new patient education materials developed with support from Novo Nordisk introduced at the 1st African Diabetes Congress held from 25-28 July 2012 in Tanzania.

“It is the aim of the Changing Diabetes® in Children programme to improve the lives of children with type 1 diabetes. When they are able to maintain a healthy life and their care givers are able to show them how, we are succeeding,” says Soraya Ramoul, director, access to health, Novo Nordisk.

The Dialogue Posters are produced in English and French, and are currently being translated into Swahili (for East Africa) and Amharic (for Ethiopia). The materials have been made accessible to the countries currently implementing the Changing Diabetes® in Children programme; Bangladesh, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The three other patient education materials include hand-outs to empower children to explain diabetes to family and friends, nurse guidelines that provide an overview and instructions on how to use the materials as well as posters for use in clinics to deliver basic diabetes messages.

Download the Changing Diabetes® in Children Dialogue Posters

Novo Nordisk’s Changing Diabetes® in Children programme was launched in 2009 to improve the health and quality of life of children with type 1 diabetes living in developing countries. Through the programme, Novo Nordisk works with local and global partners to build infrastructure, ensure medical and laboratory equipment is made available, train healthcare professionals and diabetes educators to treat children with type 1 diabetes, provide education materials for children and their families, provide insulin free of charge to children and adolescents and offer patient registration software and computers to monitor and control treatment.

To date, the Changing Diabetes® in Children programme has enrolled more than 6,700 children, established 60 clinics and trained more than 1,200 healthcare professionals. 

Read more about the Changing Diabetes® in Children programme