COIMBATORE: City-based Idhayangal Charitable Trust, which has been providing free insulin to poor children with Type 1 diabetes, is now raising funds to buy insulin pumps.
There are 1,500 children with type 1 diabetes in Coimbatore districts alone, of whom 80% can’t afford even basic insulin, said consultant endocrinologist at Kovai Medical Center and Hospital and founding trustee of the trust Dr Krishnan Swaminathan. “An insulin pump is like an artificial pancreas that produces a basal dose of insulin in small doses throughout the day. With a small press on the device, a child can increase dose before or after meals or reduce it before exercise.”
The device, which costs Rs 1.5 lakh, has been sponsored by the trust for 120 children. The trust has tied up with insulin pump supplier Medtronic and philanthropic institutions to get the pumps for as low as Rs 65,000 per child.
“An insulin pump is life changing, because it reduces 12-16 pricks over four days to one prick once every 4 days, and is a painless insertion. The pump gives children the freedom to eat whatever they want and exercise, all this while reducing chances of hypoglycemia, brain edema and seziures. The pump is a part of standard treatment for type 1 diabetic children in the west,” Swaminathan.
Started in 2017, Idhayangal Charitable Trust supports 200 children with Type 1 diabetes across the state. “We have also sponsored Rs 10,000 worth of consumables every month to them,” the doctor said.
The trust gives donors a chance to adopt a child for Rs 3,000 a month. “It actually costs Rs 6,000 a month to support a child with type 1 diabetes — including needles, pen cartridges, glucometer and glucometer strips. We have also sponsored 100 refrigerators to store the cartridges,” said Swaminathan.
The trust also raises funds to educate girl children with Type 1 diabetes until college.