Results and milestones

Findings

The findings of No Empty Shelves clearly confirm that technologies – blood glucose monitoring (BGM) and syringes – and not insulin are the least affordable amongst the EMTs surveyed. Availability is very low in the public sectors, rural areas, and lower levels of care. The causes are various – from procurement issues that can impact supply to taxes and unregulated mark-ups that drive up costs.

Outcomes

• A comprehensive and peer-reviewed list of 22 EMTs necessary to diagnose and treat diabetes and its common comorbidities
• A global landscape report “Diabetes Supplies: Are they there when needed?” published by PATH in 2015.
• Two comprehensive country assessments of the supply chain, availability and affordability of said medicines and products in Kenya and Senegal – manuscripts pending approval for publishing in peer-reviewed journal
• A global Call to Action calling for access, availability, and affordability of essential medicines and technologies for noncommunicable diseases.
• The groundwork for establishing a cross-disciplinary coalition to increase access to essential medicines and technologies for NCDs. The result of this groundwork is the global Coalition for Access to NCD Medicines and Products, launched in September 2017 in New York, and of which Novo Nordisk is a founding member. See more about the Coalition here.