Objective
This project aims at improving access to T1D care in India with the overall goal of achieving longer, healthier, and more productive lives for people living with T1D.
Background Rationale
See General Audience Summary above.
Description of Project
With about 276,794 children and adolescents living in with Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1D), India is one of the most afflicted T1D countries on measures of burden. Yet this number may be even higher. About 75,000 more children would be alive in India today if they had received a higher standard of care for T1D. Additionally, the incidence of T1D among children and adolescents in India is higher than for other age groups. By 2040, it is estimated that over 1.1 million children and adolescents would be newly diagnosed with T1D annually. While the burden of T1D among children and adolescents in India continues to rise, the survival of persons living with type 1 diabetes (PLT1DM) remains woefully poor. For the typical PLT1DM in India, a diagnosis with the condition at age 10 means enjoying just 29 healthy years of life.
There is an urgent need to improve diagnosis and treatment outcomes for people, especially children and adolescents, living with T1D in India. The most important barriers to access to T1D care in India include poor awareness of T1D among general population and healthcare workers, lack of access to quality diagnosis and treatment, financial hardship due to high treatment costs, poor self-management and treatment adherence, and gaps in policy design and implementation related to T1D.
In partnership with JDRF, CHAI proposes to support national and state governments in India address these barriers through effort across three strategic prongs: (1) Service Delivery, (2) Awareness, Education, and Support, and (3) Policy and Evidence. Over a period of two years, CHAI will implement the project at all three levels of healthcare governance in India – national, state and district. CHAI will provide intensive implementation support in focus districts across identified states of the for ensuring service delivery and access to diagnostic and treatment commodities for T1D. This will entail strengthening the public healthcare system to provide T1D services through dedicated clinics within these districts augmented by systematic screening interventions at the community level. This will be buttressed by technical support to partner governments at state and national levels for multi-year planning, optimizing policy and guidelines, securing financing, building capacity of healthcare personnel, augmenting data systems, strengthening the commodity supply chain, planning for service provision, and monitoring. In addition to in-country implementation, synergistic work at the national and global levels will entail market shaping efforts to ensure upstream availability, affordability, and quality of a package of diabetes care commodities.
Anticipated Outcome
The anticipated outcomes of this project are:
i. Improved access to screening, diagnosis, and management services close to community level
ii. Improved access to affordable and appropriate commodities for diagnosis and treatment of T1D
iii. PLT1DM and caregivers empowered for self-management of T1D
Relevance to T1D
See General Audience Summary above.