2021 Actions, Workshops, and Campaigns
#insulin4all Workshop 2021 Goals
- To provide a safe and inclusive, intersectional space for people with type 1 and all types of diabetes and their allies
- To strengthen the sense of connection among and between the T1I Community and expand understanding of the global diabetes community
- To bring Advocates, Key Volunteers, Global Advocacy Partners, the T1I team, and the Board together to further build relationships, learning, and connection
- To empower Advocates with education and clear actions to be the most effective advocates they can be in their state, local, and global communities
Two Day Format
- Day One (Saturday, September 18th): Open to the general public and features content that raises awareness of the #insulin4all movement, the global insulin crisis, and advocacy work of T1International and our key volunteers.
- Day Two (Sunday, September 19th): Open to our key volunteer community (#insulin4all Chapter Leadership, Global Advocates, and Digital Advocates) with a focus on community, leadership and skills-building content. Registration information will be shared directly via email with our key volunteers.
Saturday, September 18th
Our annual #insulin4all Workshop is an opportunity for advocates from around the world to learn from each other, build community, and take action in the fight for #insulin4all. The 2021 workshop theme was Advocate, Don’t Celebrate.
2021 marks the 100 year anniversary of the discovery of insulin, which was nothing short of miraculous. While we certainly celebrate the discoverers and their gift to the world, we did NOT celebrate the insulin manufacturers and their greed. Through the workshop, we powered up our advocacy to be even stronger by holding pharma, our governments, and others accountable
Caylan Fazio
Caylan Fazio formerly volunteered as Ohio’s Chapter Leader from June 2020 to September 2021. Caylan lives with type 1 diabetes and has found empowerment by advocating for access and long-term solutions to the high cost of American healthcare.
Kim Carter Martinez
Kim Carter Martinez grew up in New Jersey with a mom who had type 1 diabetes. Her mom died when she was 17 years old and when she was 19 she herself was diagnosed with diabetes. In her professional life Kim is the political and legislative director of a labour union. She has worked in the labour movement for over 20 years.
Kristen Whitney Daniels
Kristen is the Connecticut #insulin4all Chapter Leader, joining after her own experience of rationing insulin, and the co-chair of T1International’s U.S. Federal Working Group. In her day job, she uses her love for policy and skills as a former reporter to focus on justice issues and multimedia communication.
Mirella Rangel
Mirella is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her culture, family, community, and love of nature keep her focused. With more than 20 years of experience as a leader and community organizer, she’s learned the importance of working with clarity and purpose. She helps bring people together to define their liberation.More about Mirella
Zain Rizvi
Zain Rizvi is a law and policy researcher at Public Citizen. He is an expert on pharmaceutical innovation and access to medicines. Zain obtained a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was student director of the Yale Global Health Justice Partnership. He has a bachelor’s degree from McMaster University and has published in medical and legal journals, including The Lancet and the Yale Journal of Law & Technology.
Olamide Adejumo
Olamide Adejumo is a Nigerian Licensed Medical Doctor a social media diabetes advocate in Nigeria. He was the co-founder and director of The Nigeria Diabetes Online Community until 2019. He is studying to become a narrative care practitioner and is enthusiastic about clinical precision care that focuses on diversity and socio-cultural inclinations as tools for patient-centered advocacy.
Wayne Turner
Wayne Turner is a Senior Attorney with the National Health Law Program, focusing on Medicaid managed care, prescription drug access for low income and underserved people, and nondiscrimination in health programs and activities. Before transitioning to his legal career, Wayne was a principle organizer with the HIV/AIDS advocacy and protest group ACT UP in Washington, DC.
Vivian Nabeta
Vivian is the founder of the Sonia Nabeta Foundation (SNF) and she believes in an Africa where all children with type 1 diabetes have an equal chance at long, productive, healthy and gainful lives. SNF is T1International’s partner for the joint Pamoja (together we can) project, supporting young advocates with diabetes in Africa.
1 in 2: A Digital Demonstration for #insulin4all
September 10-20 2021
Join T1International in this year’s Digital Demonstration to highlight the severity of the global insulin crisis. According to Health Action International/ACCISS (opens in a new tab), one in two people worldwide can’t reliably access or afford their insulin.
As we commemorate the 100 year anniversary of insulin’s discovery, we will continue advocating for 100% #insulin4all. Help us make noise by participating in the 1 in 2 Challenge on your favorite social media network.
Take Action Now!
- Upload a picture or an image that illustrates what “1 in 2” means to you on your social media channels. Feel free to get creative! If you don’t want to use a picture of yourself, feel free to use one of our graphics (opens in a new tab)!
- Use the below captions depending on the social media platform of your choice. Make sure you tag @t1international, and use #insulin4all and #insulin1in2.
- Ask a friend to share this information and to continue the “chain” by asking one of their friends to do the same.
- If you are able, donate or ask others to do so to help us ensure 100% of people have affordable access to insulin.
About the Digital Demo in Other Languages
- télécharger en français (opens in a new tab)
- descargar en español (opens in a new tab)
- تنزيل بالعربية (opens in a new tab)
Other ways to take action:
- Register for the 2021 #insulin4all Workshop
- Share the facts on this page, sample social posts and graphics (opens in a new tab) to help inform others in your community about the lack of access to affordable insulin worldwide
- Join our Global Advocacy Network, your local #insulin4all Chapter, or consider starting one of your own!
- Donate $5, $50, or as much as you are able to, to help us fight so that 100% of people have affordable access to insulin
”Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.” – Sir Frederick Banting
This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the discovery of insulin. The discovery of insulin was nothing short of miraculous. While we certainly celebrate the discoverers and their gift to the world, we will NOT be celebrating the insulin manufacturers and their greed. This is the idea behind our tagline: advocate, don’t celebrate.
We cannot truly and fully celebrate until #insulin4all is a reality, and we will not applaud the pharmaceutical industry for price gouging millions of patients worldwide for a medication that costs $6 to produce. Insulin was meant to be a gift to the world but has become a posterchild of pharmaceutical industry greed. We will continue to advocate and ensure that these companies are held accountable.
The Story of Insulin
Before the 1920’s, a diabetes diagnosis meant a death sentence for people all over the world. The main treatment was starvation diets to prolong the inevitable.
In 1920, a Canadian physician and scientist named Frederick Banting began working on an idea to isolate and extract insulin. He worked in the laboratories of J.R.R. McLeod, a professor of physiology at the University of Toronto. The medical student Charles Best aided him in his work to test out insulin on dogs. Chemist James Collip worked with Banting and Best to purify and refine insulin for clinical trials in humans.
On January 23rd, 1923 Banting, Best, and Collip were awarded the American patents for insulin. They sold the patent to the University of Toronto for $1 each. Banting notably said: “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.” His desire was for everyone who needed access to it to have it.
In order for the insulin to be mass produced and widely available, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. were given the rights to do so. While this incredible advancement was intended as a gift from the discoverers, Eli Lilly and the two other major insulin producers, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, have turned insulin into profit machines, assisting in bringing in billions of dollars in profit every year. By 1923, insulin was the highest-selling product in Eli Lilly’s history, and profits from it accounted for over half of the company’s revenue. As we know, the prices have continued to skyrocket ever since.
A gift to the world has become a tool for price gouging patients all over the world. The greed of the pharmaceutical industry is keeping insulin out of the hands of millions. This greed leads to the loss of countless lives and dampens the dream of Banting, which was to make insulin a gift that belongs to the world.
Insulin: A timeline
1910
1910
1921
May 17: Banting, Best and Macleod begin their first experiment trying to extract insulin in Toronto
July 27: Insulin is first successfully isolated
1922
January 11: Insulin was first used in the treatment of a person with type 1 diabetes when an injection was given to Leonard Thompson
January 23: After James Collip purified the insulin extract, Leonard Thompson was given further injections without experiencing reactions
January 25: A memorandum was written by Banting, Best, and Collip who agreed not to seek a patent or commercial collaboration
1999
Humalog insulin (made by Eli Lilly) cost $21 per vial in the USA
1923
An American patent on both insulin and Toronto’s method of making it was awarded to Banting, Collip, and Best, for $1.00 to each
Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin, which they shared with Best and Collip
Eli Lilly began producing insulin and soon it was the highest-selling product in Eli Lilly’s history, with profits accounting for over half of the company’s revenue
2019
2021
Vials for Life
What is Vials of Life?
Mark your calendar! November 14, World Diabetes Day, is an opportunity for people around the world to come together and demand a better world for people living with diabetes everywhere. Our community is uniting our individual and collective powers of generosity. We are using our voices and online platforms to raise awareness, grow our community, and fight for #insulin4all. Together we are stronger.
To a person living with type 1 diabetes insulin is like oxygen, vital to survival. Every day it gives us life.
To build our community and share in the spirit of gratefulness, we’re asking ourselves, our friends, our families, and loved ones to join us in our Vials of Life campaign.
Vials of Life was inspired by T1International Chapter Leader Madi Johnson and her up-cycled empty vials of insulin (opens in a new tab). Her creative approach to spreading hope and raising awareness about the insulin price crisis ignited a spark in the T1International team and Vials of Life was launched in December 2020.
How do I take part?
From World Diabetes Day on November 14 to November 22: Share on social media what gives you life. Is it a person, a place, a thing, a song, a memory?
- Take a photo or print off and decorate our vial of life template (opens in a new tab) and share it online
- Use the hashtags #insulin4all and #vialsoflife to help us raise awareness of our fundraising efforts and encourage others to take action
- Check out our fundraising tips and resources to start to plan your fundraising
- Share this page on your social networks and follow us on Facebook (opens in a new tab), Twitter (opens in a new tab), and Instagram (opens in a new tab) for more updates about the campaign
Donate to the Campaign (opens in a new tab)
What’s the Target?
Our goal is to raise $10,000 for T1International. However, we know that many are still facing financial struggles due to the pandemic so it is not just donations we are asking for. You can donate your time, talents, and treasures to help us achieve our goal!
Time – Give a little bit of time by sharing our campaign posts and joining our online community in sharing about what gives you life. Follow us on Facebook (opens in a new tab), Twitter (opens in a new tab), and Instagram (opens in a new tab) for more updates about the campaign.
Talents – Get creative and host an event to raise awareness of Vials of Life and T1International’s #insulin4all movement. Maybe you want to host a live-stream or have a virtual craft party to decorate your vials? Check out our fundraising tips for more ideas and guidance.
Treasure – If you can, donate directly to our campaign. Every donation, however large or small, makes a massive difference in allowing us to continue to fight independently without funding from pharmaceutical companies.
We believe in a world where everyone with type 1 diabetes – no matter where they live – has everything they need to survive and achieve their dreams. Together we are stronger and together we will achieve #insulin4all.
Below are the people, places, things that give the T1International team life.
