Objective
To address the deadly disparities in access to comprehensive diabetes care, ALIGN-T1D is leveraging collective investments and actions to ensure comprehensive diabetes care, aligned with country priorities, is accessible to a large and growing population of people living with T1D. These investments will span 5 strategic objectives:
• Strengthening integrated T1D service delivery
• Enhancing insulin and blood glucose monitoring access
• Supporting enabling health systems
• Amplifying the role of T1D communities
• Mobilizing stakeholders and funding
The Alliance will focus on three bodies of work to achieve these objectives:
• Invest in countries and communities: To increase the value-for-money and sustainability of investments, ALIGN-T1D will serve as a platform to engage with governments and community in-country with one voice, coordinate existing investments, and close gaps. Strategic priorities will differ across country contexts and will be defined through a government- and community-led approach, bringing together all core in-country stakeholders.
• Enhance insulin and monitoring access across countries: Building on country-specific/level investments, ALIGN-T1D is exploring cross-country solutions to improve the availability and affordability of insulin and blood glucose monitoring supplies for people with type 1 diabetes in LMICs. This includes addressing several country-specific and cross-country barriers that limit access and drive up costs for people with T1D.
• Coordinate, Convene, and Advocate Globally: To elevate T1D priorities in national, regional, and global conversations, ALIGN-T1D plans to enhance coordination and collaboration among partners, convene stakeholders around a shared strategy, and mobilize additional funders.
Background Rationale
By 2040, yearly new T1D cases are projected to increase by over 50%, with people in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) accounting for 75% of cases. Tragically, people living with T1D in LMICs lose 40 years of life vs. those in HICs, due to limited access to diagnosis, insulin, monitoring, education and quality care. Moreover, many lives are lost before even receiving a diagnosis.
Although leading pharmaceutical companies and philanthropies are contributing significant funds to address these life-threatening gaps, these efforts would benefit from enhanced coordination and full alignment with government and community priorities - moreover, investment gaps still exist. ALIGN-T1D presents an opportunity to close these gaps and enhance collective and sustainable impact on the lives of people living with T1D.
Description of Project
Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is a chronic condition requiring lifelong comprehensive care. But for the growing number of people living with T1D in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), it can be impossible to secure a diagnosis, afford insulin or monitoring supplies, receive support and training in diabetes management, or even access medical care - leaving many at risk of early death.
Although leading pharmaceutical companies and philanthropies are contributing significant funds to address these life-threatening gaps, these efforts lack sufficient coordination and full alignment with government and community priorities - moreover, investment gaps still exist. That’s why partners representing industry, philanthropy, and the T1D community are joining together to break down silos and ensure comprehensive diabetes care reaches the right people in the right places at the right times.
The Alliance for Integrated, Government-led Networks for T1D (ALIGN-T1D) is bringing together major funders, program experts, and people living with T1D to:
• Increase the coordination and impact of existing investments in country,
• Enhance access to insulin and monitoring for people living with diabetes across countries, and
• Attract new resources around a common agenda
ALIGN-T1D's work will proceed in three phases, beginning on a smaller scale before incorporating learnings to scale and expand the Alliance’s reach to additional countries over time. The start-up phase will begin in three countries in Q3 of 2025. Led by in-country implementation partners, in coordination with government and community stakeholders, investments in these initial countries seek to by 2040:
• Reach 165,000 people living with T1D and, collectively, 1 million individuals who use insulin
• Aid in the diagnosis of 14,000 additional people living with T1D
• Train 14,000 health care workers
Anticipated Outcome
ALIGN-T1D's work will proceed in three phases, beginning on a smaller scale before incorporating learnings to scale and expand the Alliance’s reach to additional countries over time. The start-up phase will begin in three countries in Q3 of 2025. Led by in-country implementation partners, in coordination with government and community stakeholders, investments in these initial countries seek to by 2040:
• Reach 165,000 people living with T1D and, collectively, 1 million individuals who use insulin
• Aid in the diagnosis of 14,000 additional people living with T1D
• Train 14,000 health care workers
In addition, building on country-specific/level investments, ALIGN-T1D will design a cross-country solution to improve the availability and affordability of insulin and blood glucose monitoring supplies across countries, with expected launch in 2027.
Finally, ALIGN-T1D will enhance coordination and collaboration among partners, convene stakeholders around a shared strategy, and mobilize additional funders
Relevance to T1D
This project aims to enhance the collective impact, sustainability and cohesiveness of efforts and investments across partners working to strengthen T1D diagnosis and care in low- and middle-income countries.