The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has announced a three-year, $5.2 million grant to PATH to increase access to the safe administration of insulin and high-quality self-care for people living with diabetes.

According to the Helmsley Trust, more than 464 million people around the world have diabetes, and the majority of them live in low- and middle-income countries. More than half of people living with diabetes struggle to access the insulin and other medications they need, and an unrecognized segment of this population cannot access the commodities needed to measure their blood glucose or safely administer insulin.

The grant will support expansion of the Diabetes CarePak project, which provides products and consumables along with insulin and oral diabetes medication to people living with diabetes. Already underway in Kenya, the project will expand to Tanzania, Mozambique, and Mali and co-create educational content for people living with diabetes to facilitate their own self-care, as well as associated healthcare worker capacity-building strategies and materials. The project will be conducted in partnership with people living with diabetes, healthcare providers, the ministries of health in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Mali, and other key health system stakeholders such as the Coalition for Access to NCD Medicines and Products and Life for a Child.

“As we work to create a sustainable, global movement that supports people living with type 1 diabetes to thrive, regardless of location, PATH is an ideal partner,” said Helmsley Trust Type 1 Diabetes program officer Estefania Palomino. “It is unacceptable that insulin and other lifesaving products necessary to maintain safe levels of blood glucose are unaffordable or inconsistently available in many countries. The innovative Diabetes CarePak project has the potential to drastically reduce or eliminate this disparity for many individuals in need.”

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