The Cape Town Declarations of Action

Saving Limbs, Saving Lives and the Need for #insulin4all

Too many Africans with diabetes face life and death situations every day. Insulin can be hard to get, and unaffordable when available. Lack of access to simple but necessary foot care causes thousands of limb amputations every year. This harms not only the person with diabetes, but their families who depend on their livelihood for survival. The costs and hardships of diabetes are often too much for African families and many people with diabetes in Africa do not survive. This is reality, but it is something we can change.

The Cape Town Declarations of Action on Diabetic Foot & Insulin Access are major collaborative calls to action for diabetes care improvements in Africa. The Declarations were written after discussions held in Cape Town South Africa. The World Council of Enterostomal Therapy, the Southern Africa International Interprofessional Wound Care Course alumni, and a broad range of diabetes organizations active in Africa were present.

It is essential to improve insulin access and diabetic foot prevention and treatment for persons with diabetes in Africa. We also hope this gives momentum to others considering similar initiatives and that our joint efforts will generate more attention to the problem of diabetes in Africa. Please circulate and share these two declarations as widely as possible.