March 6, 2024
Insights from 300+ applications shed light on the global landscape of community-based work on type 1 diabetes
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The Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Community Fund invests in the power of local communities for a future where people living with type 1 diabetes can lead healthy and fulfilling lives.
Powered by Panorama Global with seed funding from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, The T1D Community Fund supports community-based organizations around the world that serve individuals and families impacted by type 1 diabetes.
In 2024, The T1D Community Fund awarded $700,000 to 14 community-based organizations across Africa, Central and South Asia, Europe, and Latin America. To date, The Fund has invested more than $1.7 million in 30 organizations across 23 countries that provide direct patient care, advocate for improved health policies, and expand capacity building and education programs.
Community-based organizations provide vital services and have unique insights into the challenges of existing health systems and barriers faced by people with type 1 diabetes. Yet, their perspectives are often not included in national or global type 1 diabetes planning.
We are thrilled to support organizations working on the frontlines to close gaps in essential health services and related care for people living with type 1 diabetes. The T1D Community Fund grant recipients provide life-saving health services and programs for people living with type 1 diabetes and their families through five types of support:
The African Community Center for Social Sustainability works with vulnerable people in resource-limited settings through provision of medical care, education and economic empowerment to create long lasting change that is owned by the entire community. ACCESS partners with the Uganda Ministry of Health to care for people with NCDs including type 1 diabetes.
Ark Development Organization (ADO) is a health education, governance, and environmentally focused organization committed to improving the lives of deprived women, children and the disabled through capacity building, evidence-based advocacy, and participatory innovative programs. The organization’s diabetes support program minimizes health crises through early detection of type 1 and other diabetes and early uptake of treatment through community education, screening, linkage to treatment services, and case monitoring.
Ashuja'an is a leading non-profit organization for type 1 diabetes prevention and treatment in the Arab community, serving over 10,000 children and adults in Israel and Palestine. The organization aims to eradicate the stigma that prevents children and youth living with diabetes to effectively cope and manage through educational community activities and approachable health monitoring measures that normalize diabetes in patients’ families and communities.
Founded by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, CUI.D.AR’s mission is to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes. They work to minimize the impact of diabetes on the lives of children, young people, and adults through prevention, social awareness raising, defense of rights and education. CUI.D.AR's work spans research, education, advocacy, awareness campaigns, incidence and design of public policies, and capacity building. It is the largest community of people living with diabetes in Argentina, and specifically the most representative in type 1 diabetes.
DIA is a civil society organization in the Republic of Moldova that contributes to increasing the quality of life and life expectancy of people living with insulin-dependent diabetes by addressing the right to health, social protection, social inclusion.
ADIC provides socio-medical care to everyone living with diabetes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They educate people living with diabetes about prevention, nutrition, management, and distribute medical supplies.
Diabetes Association of Botswana is a not-for-profit NGO that provides support, education, and advocacy for people living with diabetes in Botswana through awareness campaigns, screenings, and youth camps. The organization also works with the Ministry of Health and other partners to support healthcare worker training and education about diabetes to further enhance care for those living with diabetes in Botswana.
DASL is an NGO in Sri Lanka that provides clinical, education, screening, laboratory services, and advocacy to reduce prevalence and prevent diabetes. The headquarters, National Diabetes Centre, provides affordable screenings and free of charge medical supplies and treatment to underprivileged youth living with type 1 diabetes.
Diabetes Palestine (DP) supports people living with diabetes in cooperation and coordination with care providers. Leveraging community-based approaches, DP provides comprehensive diabetes care with a focus on self-management and education to communities in West Bank and Gaza.
In 2004, Diabetes Society of Maldives (DSM) established a free clinic that provides diabetes services—including type 1 diabetes education, complication screening, and care at no cost to patients. DSM also acts as a center of information on diabetes in the Maldives by educating the community through screening programs, presentations, and health education.
Diabetic Children Foundation improves the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and their families. The foundation focuses on community awareness and stigma reduction, education, and access to technology for type 1 diabetes care and treatment.
The Ethiopian Diabetes Association was established in 1976 to provide a platform for people living with diabetes to provide information and prevent treatment and related problems. The association was founded by the Ethiopian Medical Association, health care professionals, and people living with diabetes.
Fondation Diabete MNT contributes to the fight against diabetes and other NCDs in Guinea. The organization provides education, training for healthcare workers, and screenings to increase awareness and improve prevention and early detection of diabetes. They also advocate for increased access and quality of care.
The Fundación Diabetes Juvenil del Ecuador’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes in Ecuador. They provide nutrition education, counseling, and peer support to people with type 1 diabetes, parents, or caregivers, and in schools.
Fundación Los Fresnos Casa de la Diabetes is an organization that works in Ecuador, its objective is to provide support to people living with diabetes or at risk of suffering from it. We work to educate people with diabetes and the community through education programs and workshops and medical-social interventions, training for health professionals, development of clinical practice guidelines, research, development of educational material, among others. We manage support programs, provision of supplies, comprehensive medical services, and camps for people with type 1 diabetes.
Guerreros Azules advocates for diabetes care for children with type 1 diabetes in Venezuela. Their programs promote health services, education, recreational activities, and supplies and resources that support, treat, and save the lives of children in vulnerable conditions.
Innovations for Development (I4DEV) promotes and defends the health rights of current and future generations of Ugandans using innovative solutions, engaging communities, and delivering quality services while focusing on the most marginalized. Through this lens, the organization responds to the needs of people with type 1 diabetes through community building, health system strengthening, and advocacy.
Kabukye Trust works to motivate youth facing rural and financial challenges. The organization's type 1 diabetes initiative, Sugarwise Starlets, focuses on screening, design and standardization of care protocols, education, and advocacy for children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes.
La Maison Bleue du Diabète is at the forefront of diabetes care for children, adolescents, young adults, and adults with type 1 diabetes living in the Republic of Congo. The association provides free medical consultations and insulin delivery to patients through two medical centers in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire. In addition, the association works to support the diabetes community in Congo through education, healthcare capacity building, and advocacy.
Meethi Zindagi is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the quality of life for people living with type 1 diabetes in Pakistan through support, empowering education, awareness and advocacy. The organization provides insulin support, access to medical care, structured education and emotional wellbeing through peer support.
Midlands Diabetes Interest Group raises awareness among people with diabetes through education and advising local communities. They offer comprehensive care of complex cases of diabetes and preventive management for patients with diabetes, and attention to pre-diabetic conditions in the Midlands province.
Nityaasha Foundation supports children with type 1 diabetes from less privileged backgrounds by providing free medical aid (insulin and glucose strips) and pathology tests. At health centers and periodic home visits, Nityaasha staff closely monitor and educate families on proper insulin storage, insulin injection technique, injection sites, and daily blood glucose tests, and records the result. The team also provides information on type 1 diabetes day-to-day management to lead a normal quality of life.
Pillar of Health’s mission is to have every child/youth living with type 1 diabetes in Rwanda have health insurance. They help raise funds to provide free health insurance to those who cannot afford it and connect them with local solutions to pay for themselves. They also work with the Government of Rwanda to provide insulin and other supplies to district hospitals.
Rwanda Diabetes Association is a nongovernmental organization that aims to improve the well-being of people living with diabetes in Rwanda through education, training healthcare workers, and access to care. The organization promotes diabetes care and prevention, supports people living with diabetes and their families, and bolsters global advocacy efforts.
Samatvam: Science and Research for Human Welfare Trust is a group of institutions that treats and manages diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic disorders. The goal is to provide health care of the highest possible quality to the highest possible quantity— to foster humane, honest, and holistic health care.
Sweet Life Diabetes Community empowers people with diabetes on their journey to a healthy, happy life by providing answers to their diabetes questions and a community to support and share their experiences. Sweet Life serves people living with type 1 diabetes in South Africa as the country’s largest online diabetes community.
Tanzania Diabetes Association aims to educate the community in Tanzania about diabetes and to support research, education, and care of people living with diabetes. The organization promotes affordable quality care and develops models of care and interventions that include early diagnosis, availability of insulin, and continuous care and monitoring.
The Union of Associations of Persons with Diabetes of Macedonia is a civil society organization that seeks to improve the quality of life for people living with diabetes in North Macedonia. The organization advocates for better health services, provides education for individuals and families, and raises awareness among the public.
Through its Health and Nutrition program, Volta Educational Renaissance Foundation (VEReF) focuses its type 1 diabetes efforts on patients, caregivers, and community education in addition to screening and awareness raising. By improving patient outcomes, VEReF’s services support overall individual and family well-being.
UMID is a nonprofit diabetes information organization advocating for people with diabetes in Uzbekistan. UMID assists in improving the quality and life expectancy of people living with diabetes through education, providing access to quality medical care, and protecting the rights of people with diabetes.
In 2023 The Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Community Fund launched a second request for proposals that received more than 300 applications from community-based organizations (CBOs) in low-and middle-income countries. This pool of applicants provides insights into the largely unmapped global landscape of CBOs and their work on T1D. Read for an analysis of the geography, organization size, and priorities of CBOs in LMICs.
