State care for children with diabetes insufficient

• Thursday, May 31, 02:38

Diabetes holds the first place among all the endocrine disorders in children, Yelena Agajanova, Head of the Republican Children's Endocrinological Dispensary, said at today's press conference on Wednesday. Type 1 diabetes is more typical to the children. It occurs when the body's pancreas doesn't produce any
insulin. It is sometimes called juvenile diabetes because it is usually discovered in children and teenagers.

She said that the treatment includes dietary intervention, physical exercises, insulin therapy, and injections for Type 1 diabetes.  

Agajanova said that diabetes is treated at the expense of state funds. Nevertheless, the financial means allocated by the state are not enough, as the state provides only insulin, whereas the big expenses on diabetes treatment are connected not only with the necessity of constant insulin therapy. "The patient should measure the quantity of insulin in his /her organism with the help of a GB meter several times a day and any time a new strip is needed, which is unaffordable for many poor families given that a box of insulin strips costs nearly 10,000 AMD. Moreover, one box is too little", she said.  

In this context, Karine Mkhitaryan, founder of Yeraz Charity Foundation, said that the lack of control over the disease may lead to complications, and their Foundation is trying to help the children by providing the poor families with free strips.