Roche Diabetes Care Emphasises The Significance Of Public-Private Partnerships In Tackling Diabetes In Africa

Roche Diabetes Care, a global leader in diabetes management solutions, participated at the 2023 South African Diabetes Summit, held in Pretoria on 15 November 2023. As part of the esteemed panel, Roche highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in tackling the growing diabetes burden in South Africa and beyond, aligning with the  summit’s overarching theme: “Diabetes Targets, Translating Policy into Reality”

South Africa is among 48 countries counted in the IDF (International Diabetes Federation) Africa Region (AFR). According to the IDF, 24 million people live with diabetes in this region and this number is expected to increase to 55 million by 2045. A bigger and looming concern is that the proportion of undiagnosed diabetes is the highest in the AFR Region at 53.6%.¹

According to a recent report by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), diabetes deaths in South Africa have doubled over the last decade, claiming more than 26,800 lives in 2018. In 2008, this number was 19,692.² Still, one out of two South Africans with diabetes don’t know they have it, and by the time they are diagnosed, people often have advanced organ damage.¹ These numbers bring to fore the need for a collective action to address the growing incidence of diabetes through holistic drive to create a robust ecosystem of care.

Omar Sherief Mohammad, Cluster Head for India, the Middle East and Africa at Roche Diabetes Care shared insight at the Summit’s Innovation and Research panel, highlighting innovation in partnerships through case studies that demonstrated PPPs’ historical effectiveness in addressing diabetes-related challenges in resource-limited regions.

The first success story focused on Roche Diabetes Care’s collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Pakistan to implement diabetes awareness and screening programmes. The ScreenHer initiative in Pakistan in collaboration with Greenstar Social Marketing (GSM), the largest NGO working for women’s health in the country, accomplished screenings of one million women over three years, converting 250 clinics into Diabetes wellbeing centres – providing low-income communities with access to affordable testing and diabetes management services.

Omar also shared Roche Diabetes Care’s successful collaboration with the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance, Kenya (NCDAK)  in the Mwanga Access Project in Kenya. This first-of-its-kind collaborative initiative employed a grass-root level outreach that was powered by technology in the back-end, through a digital platform developed by Medtronic Labs and bolstered by expertise from Community Healthcare Promoters on the ground. The programme has significantly increased diabetes awareness and screening rates in the target communities. For more details about the Mwanga project, do visit this link.

“In order to address the growing numbers of diabetes in South Africa, innovation in partnering is as important as innovating in new technologies/medicines,” says Omar Sherief Mohammad. “For a country like South Africa there is little doubt that any entity could achieve this on their own. By working together, governments, NGOs, and private companies can pool their resources, expertise and experience to develop and implement innovative models and solutions that reach the most vulnerable populations. 

Susan Snell, Head of Area 3, IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) at Roche Diabetes Care, emphasises the transformative potential of PPPs. “Partnerships have the power to revolutionise healthcare delivery in Africa, making it more accessible, affordable and effective,” she explained. “By leveraging our collective strengths, we can make a real difference in the lives of people living with diabetes.”

Omar concludes, “The Diabetes Summit is a crucial platform for discussing and addressing the pressing healthcare issues surrounding diabetes in Africa. We hope Roche Diabetes Care’s participation in the summit will prompt more organisations to work collaboratively to improve diabetes outcomes for individuals and communities so as to progress the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), 2022-2027³.”

References:

1. International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 9th edn. Brussels, Belgium: 2019. Available from: http://www.diabetesatlas.org.
2. Key findings: Report-03-08-01 – Non-communicable diseases: Findings from death notifications (2008-2018), 2018. [ Internet]. Department of Statistics South Africa. [2023 Nov 13 ]. Available from: https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=1856&PPN=Report-03-08-01&SCH=73853 
3. Department of Health. National Strategic Plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases 2022-2027. [ Internet]. Department of Health. [2023 Nov 13 ] Available from: https://bhekisisa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NCDs-NSP-SA-2022-2027-1.pdf