JDRF, the leading global type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocacy organization, announces the launch of the Type 1 Diabetes Index (T1D Index). The T1D Index is a first-of-its-kind data simulation tool that measures the human and public health impact of the T1D crisis in every country across the globe.
JDRF collaborated with key partners and experts around the world to develop the T1D Index using the results from a global survey of more than 500 endocrinologists and 400 publications to simulate the state of T1D globally and at the country level. The tool will be able to give access to retrospective and predictive data which can help change the lives of people living with T1D by identifying attainable country-by-country interventions including timely diagnosis, accessible care and funding research that could lead to cures.
Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune condition where the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells. This condition is irreversible and generally diagnosed in children and young people. A person with this condition can not survive without daily insulin injections.
T1D is one of the fastest-growing chronic health conditions, impacting nearly nine million people across the globe. Certain factors like family history can increase risk, but it is not caused by diet or lifestyle. The Index uniquely illuminates the human burden of T1D by highlighting “missing people,” which is the number of people who would still be alive today if they had not died early due to complications from T1D, and “healthy years lost,” which represents time lost to ill-health, disability or early death from living with T1D.
Simulations from the T1D Index suggest that globally as of 2022 there are more than 3.86 million “missing people” and an average of 32 “healthy years lost” to T1D per person if diagnosed at age 10.
Action4Diabetes (A4D) is proud to have collaborated with JDRF as their Global Access Partners in the development of this one-of-a-kind data simulation tool. Data and insights from the T1D Index will be extremely useful for A4D and local partners in analysing the T1D health situation and devising practical strategies to close the gaps in T1D care across South-East Asia.
The T1D Index and accompanying research have been published in the leading diabetes and endocrinology medical journal, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Read the full paper here.