Changing Diabetes®  in Children

It is unacceptable that so many people living with diabetes cannot get the medicine and healthcare they need. It is a catastrophe that so many of these are children living with type 1 diabetes in low-income countries.

Jennifer Anthony has type 1 diabetes and is enrolled in the Changing Diabetes® in Children India

No child should die from diabetes

Our Changing Diabetes® in Children programme is committed to safeguarding a healthy future for children with type 1 diabetes in countries where care is not always available or accessible.

On this page, you can learn more about Changing Diabetes® in Children and the positive impact the programme is making.

If you are a doctor, nurse or a parent, you can also explore our education materials to support a child as they learn to self-manage insulin injections, blood glucose management and mental health and well-being.

About Changing Diabetes®  in Children

The Changing Diabetes® in Children programme is a public-private partnership between the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), the World Diabetes Foundation, Roche and Novo Nordisk.

The programme is running in 14 countries in Africa and Asia, reaching more than 25,000 children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes.

In each country, the programme is implemented by a group of local partners, with the national ministry of health playing a key role to ensure that the programme is anchored within the existing healthcare system.

For most of these children, it is more than just the medicine they need. Having access to doctors and nurses, as well as medical equipment like blood glucose testing strips is essential.

By cooperating with a diverse set of skills and experience, the programme takes a holistic approach to provide education and medical equipment, while improving the local healthcare infrastructure for the next generation.

Global map of the 14 countries enrolled in the programme

How the programme works

When a new partnership is established, the programme team looks at the specific challenges in the country or community. These challenges include areas such as healthcare system, the medicine supply chain or the economic burden medicine and care puts on families.  

Addressing local challenges

The programme focuses on six areas that address local challenges:

Improvement of existing infrastructure
Training and education of healthcare professionals
Provision of human insulin and blood glucose monitoring equipment
Patient education  
Advocacy and good practice sharing

Patient registry system

In the programme's first 10 years, more than 171 million DKK (26 million USD) has been invested by the programme's partners.

In 2020, we set a new ambition to reach 100,000 children by 2030. 

Programme milestones 

2,1m

vials of insulin (100 units) donated.

15,100+

healthcare professionals trained.

26,500+ 

children and adolescents enrolled.

208

diabetes clinics established.

Education materials for your diabetes clinic

The Changing Diabetes® in Children programme has developed a set of patient education materials specifically for the use with children and families in low resource settings.

Supporting healthcare professionals

The materials have been developed to support healthcare professionals to communicate vital information to previously and newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes and their families.

Building on a set of recurring characters and settings, the materials engage children in talking about the challenging subject of self-control of diabetes.

If you are a healthcare professional or a parent/caregiver, you are welcome to download, print, read and use our education materials, developed in consultation with diabetes experts and practitioners.

Download our diabetes dialogue poster for children aged 8-12

The diabetes dialogue poster contains a set of 17 dialogue visuals developed for use in a diabetes clinic to support the conversation between the healthcare professional, the child and the child's family or guardian.

The poster covers questions like:

Why do I need insulin?
How much insulin should I take
Where do I inject it? How can I measure my blood glucose
What is hypo- and hyperglycaemia?
How to recognise them?

Choose your preferred language and download the poster:

Amharic  (6 MB)

English  (6 MB)

French  (6 MB)

Swahili  (6 MB)

Download nurses’ guideline booklet

The Nurses’ Guideline booklet shows how to use the diabetes dialogue posters. Based on advice from practitioners, it is suggested to use the materials together with the child over a span of visits.

Choose your preferred language and download the guidelines: 

Available languages:

English  (5 MB)

French  (5 MB)

Swahili  (5 MB)

Download educational wall posters for your clinic  

The programme’s educational wall posters help to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes and highlight some of the important messages about living with type 1 diabetes.

Choose from four different posters:

What is type 1 diabetes?
The food pyramid
The signs of type 1 diabetes
Where on the body to inject insulin?

Choose your preferred language and download the wall posters:

Amharic  (4 MB)

English  (3 MB)

French  (3 MB)

Swahili  (1 MB)

Type 1 diabetes healthcare professional training manual

The training manual for healthcare professionals was created to help doctors and nurses treating children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes in low resource settings. The manuals is based on the outcome of workshops and experts from the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes.

Training manual

It is our hope that it will be of great use to all healthcare professionals working with children and adolescents with diabetes in developing countries.

The training manual supports education and training on important type 1 diabetes topics, including: 