Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling for Kenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) benefits package to include analogue insulin pens, aiming to improve access to diabetes care and reduce inequalities in treatment.
MSF made the call in response to Kenya’s Benefits Package and Tariffs Advisory Panel consultation, highlighting the need for more equitable access to modern insulin delivery options.
Globally, the number of people living with diabetes increased from 200 million in 1990 to 830 million in 2022, while treatment access remains particularly limited in low- and middle-income countries.
“The prevalence of diabetes is rapidly increasing around the world, but access to treatment is not improving at the same rate, especially in low- and middle-income countries where modern, more efficacious, and person-preferred treatments like analogue insulin pens are unaffordable or unavailable,” said Dr Elizabeth Jarman, noncommunicable disease technical advisor, MSF Access. “By introducing analogue insulin pens to its Social Health Authority benefits package, Kenya would be leading the charge towards upending the global double standard in diabetes care and ensuring that people with diabetes have more equitable access to care.”
Click here to join our WhatsApp channel here
MSF says analogue insulin pens can improve dosing accuracy, ease of use and treatment adherence, while insulin analogues may support better blood glucose management and reduce complications.
Analogue insulin pens have already been included in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, as well as Kenya’s Essential Medicines List and National Clinical Guidelines on Diabetes Management.
“Over the past few years, Kenya has taken important steps in the right direction by including analogue insulin pens in its Essential Medicines List and the National Clinical Guidelines for Diabetes Management,” said Dr Narine Danielyan, MSF Medical Coordinator in Kenya. “Now is the time to go the last mile and ensure these devices are available as part of the Social Health Authority benefits package so that more people in Kenya have access to the insulin delivery device that is most effective for their own clinical needs, in alignment with national guidelines.”
Also read: Africa CDC and WHO Urge Community-Led Action to Strengthen Ebola Response in DRC
In Kenya, around 8,000 children currently receive analogue insulin pens through the Changing Diabetes in Children programme. MSF warns that access could become difficult as these children transition out of the programme unless the devices become broadly available.
