In the world’s poorest and most rural countries, young people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) face terrible risks. During an emergency, too often the deciding factor in whether they receive lifesaving treatment is how far they must walk to the nearest clinic.

Recognizing the untenable burden of managing a chronic disease like type 1 diabetes while living in poverty, two foundations joined forces in 2021 to support the Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity, directed by Gene Bukhman, MD, PhD. After seeing the center’s team build momentum in 14 countries, these foundations—The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and Breakthrough T1D, formerly JDRF, the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization—recently provided additional grants of $24 million and $6 million, respectively.

Under Bukhman’s leadership, the center is identifying gaps in health services delivery and building coalitions to bolster services in rural sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where 90% of the world’s poorest people live. The centerpiece of this effort is the expansion of the Package of Essential Non-Communicable Disease Interventions-Plus (PEN-Plus). Endorsed by the World Health Organization, the groundbreaking integrated care delivery model of PEN-Plus trains and equips local healthcare providers to address type 1 diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, such as rheumatic heart disease and sickle cell disease.

“Improving care for people living with type 1 diabetes is the core mission of Helmsley’s Type 1 Diabetes Program,” says James Reid, a program officer of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “Dr. Bukhman and his team provide a critical service to the global type 1 diabetes community with the greatest need, which is why we’re supporting the continued expansion of PEN-Plus.”

With the foundations’ combined support, the center will enhance clinical training and local infrastructure while broadening the reach of PEN-Plus in more than 20 countries. The partnership provides greater access to essential treatments like insulin and basic blood glucose monitoring for patients with type 1 diabetes in these nations, notes Aaron Kowalski, PhD, CEO of Breakthrough T1D.

Kowalski says, “With our philanthropic partners at the Helmsley Charitable Trust and the implementation expertise of the Center for Integration Science, we’re using collaboration and a data-driven approach to accelerate care for people with type 1 diabetes across the globe.”