Thread by @JasmineSchipp

Attending a very important and timely discussion at #ADA2022 on "Diabetes During Humanitarian Crises with Special Focus on Ukraine" 🇺🇦

(ping @DIPadvocate17)

1st @DrBobGabbay

What's important to think about in an emergency:

What information, resources + supplies do people need?
What advocacy is needed?
Are there research opportunities here? e.g. COVID pandemic
Partnerships: how can we work together?

#ADA2022

Nuha El Sayed: When a conflict happens, there's often a limited supply of insulin. People might have to switch to a type of insulin they didn't use before. There's a good switching guide available, but it was US centric. They've adapted it for the Ukraine.

#ADA2022

You can find the adapted switching guides here:

diabetesdisasterresponse.org/urkriane

#ADA2022

Anjali Anand from @MSF_USA It's hard in situations like this to ensure continuity of care. First you have to find where people are gathering. You don't know how long people will be staying. Sometimes you can't bring in supplies because there's no road access.

#ADA2022

Anjali: having a presence before the conflict occurs is important to have knowledge of the areas, knowing how to deal with the admin issues, + building trust with patients.

There's still a functioning health system in Ukraine, focus is currently on donating supplies.
#ADA2022

Kelly Mueller: "how do you move with speed in times of great uncertainty?"

Important consideration in this space, how to be fast but also get it right.

#ADA2022

Carol Atkinson from @insulinforlife:

In hurricane season in 2017, @insulinforlife put out a call for supplies so they could do a grassroots response. She thought "Can we really do this? We're sending everything we have." Fears about making a mistake. Then 4 trucks came

#ADA2022

The response was amazing. People gave what they had, e.g. if they had to switch insulins and couldn't give it back to their pharmacist. They were grateful they could donate it to help others.

It's a wonderful opportunity to be a connector.

#ADA2022

"Together, we can really make a difference" - @DrBobGabbay

#ADA2022