ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

David.Beran@unige.ch Glob. Health Action 2022, VOL. 15, 2061239; doi: 10.1080/16549716.2022.2061239

Brief Summary: In this perspective, the authors argue that non-governmental organisations (NGO), such as Santé Diabète, can play a role in the strengthening of health systems and can improve leadership and governance, service delivery and health workforce.

Santé Diabète (SD) is a French NGO dedicated to the improvement of diabetes care in Mali since 2003. It. The authors describe the improvements in diabetes care between 2004 and 2018 and the role played by SD in these successes. They highlight 2 important aspects of their work. First, SD has worked very closely with the Malian health authorities and provided technical expertise for the development of a new strategy on NCDs (national NCD strategic plan). This contributed to the inclusion of many aspects of diabetes care in the plan. Second, SD has taken on many different roles, making their approach to diabetes in Mali very comprehensive. This contrasts with many other NGOs, which mostly focus on advocacy and direct clinical care. Not mentioned in the article but worth mentioning is that the first author (SB) has been present in Mali almost without interruption since the foundation of SD, contributing to the stability of the vision. Interestingly, one of the successes mentioned by the authors is a decrease in the cost of insulin by almost 50% between 2004 and 2018 (expressed in 2018 dollars). While the cost of a vial remains, high, it highlights the importance of a collaboration between SD and the Ministry of Health as well as the complementary experience in getting better contracts with the insulin manufacturers.