Elizabeth Pfiester remembers the first time she learned that she had type 1 diabetes. She was 4 years old and had been rushed to hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life-threatening condition which can occur as a result of insulin deficiency. “Symptoms of DKA include vomiting, stomach pain and confusion. I was experiencing all of those and was hospitalized for two weeks. It was a horrible experience and if I hadn’t gotten treatment and been started on insulin injections I would have died,” Pfiester says. As traumatic as the experience was, Pfiester knows she was one of the lucky ones: a child with access to diabetes care. Living in the United States of America, her parents had health insurance that covered her needs. That is until she graduated. “From the day of my graduation, I was no longer covered by my father’s insurance plan and without the support of my parents would have struggled to pay the US$ 800 required to cover the cost of my insulin and other supplies each month.” Now the head of diabetes advocacy group, T1International, Pfiester is one of an estimated 40 million people worldwide living with type 1 diabetes…more