EASD Statement on the War in Ukraine
Now, after more than one year of unjustified, brutal aggression in Ukraine, the war still causes casualties, pain, desperation, anxiety and poverty to the whole population, impacting in particular on the elderly, children and all those who already have to fight on a daily basis due to their illness. Among them, approximately 130.000 persons with type 1 diabetes and more than 2.3 million with type 2 diabetes are struggling to keep their condition under control because of the continuing shortage of medications and insulin and obstacles in contacting medical professionals and diabetes care. The whole community and the manufacturers are struggling to obtain insulin, medications as well as glucose strips and meters for glucose monitoring supplied to hospitals and diabetes centres in Ukraine. However, active combat zones, precarious humanitarian corridors and the destruction of transportation systems represent major hurdles.
The Russian decision to invade Ukraine may also revert back onto people with diabetes in Russia as well, with an initial shortage of insulin having already been reported in the news. Because of all this, the supply of insulin may become rather erratic and inconsistent in a vast region of Eastern Europe, sometimes requiring switching from one preparation to another.
In an attempt to provide support in dealing with this critical situation such as the one the Ukraine people are facing, the American Diabetes Association has released tools and tips to help health care providers and people living with diabetes (https://www.diabetes.org/tools-support/disaster-relief) that are available in different languages and that can be freely downloaded.
The EASD is advocating continuous support of medicines and diagnostic material from manufacturers and invites everybody who would like to contribute, to do so through established NGOs that have the capacity to help on-site, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (https://www.unhcr.org/) or the International Committee of the Red Cross (https://www.icrc.org/).