The WHO Knows Insulin Is Too Expensive. How It Plans To Drive Down The Price
Globally, half of the estimated 100 million people who are in need of insulin do not have reliable access. The World Health Organization hopes a "prequalification" program will help.
Johnpeter Mwolo was 15 when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
His body, unable to produce the hormone critical for regulating blood sugar, would now rely on manufactured insulin. He learned to give himself the treatment — four injections a day.
But as he was growing up in Tanzania, insulin was expensive and not always available. Mwolo resorted to rationing his insulin, sharing a vial with his cousin, who also had Type 1 diabetes. "It was one vial to two people," he says. "Many of the necessities that we are supposed to have are not there."
It's a global problem that the World Health Organization is now working to address. In November, the WHO to boost the availability of insulin worldwide. The idea is to work with insulin
