At T1International, we believe in a world where everyone with diabetes, no matter where they live, has access to everything they need to survive and achieve their dreams. Access to modern, effective diabetes care should not depend on geography or income. As the World Health Organization finalizes its Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines, it is essential that these recommendations reflect current standards of care and the lived experiences of people with diabetes worldwide. The inclusion of insulin analogues and insulin pens in this guidance would support safer, more flexible, and more equitable treatment for individuals living with type 1 diabetes across diverse healthcare settings.

1. Insulin Analogues Improve Quality of Life 

Insulin analogues have been used safely and effectively for decades and are widely recognized as the standard of care in many high-income countries. Compared to older human insulins, insulin analogues provide greater flexibility in dosing and meal timing, reduce the risk of hypoglycemia, and support the use of modern technologies such as insulin pumps. These therapies also allow individuals to better manage diabetes around work, school, travel, and religious observances (such as Ramadan, Yom Kippur or Ekadashi), contributing to improved quality of life and long-term health outcomes; patients overwhelmingly prefer insulin analogues. They were included in the World Health Organization’s 2021 and 2025 Essential Medicines List.

2. Insulin Pens Enhance Accuracy, Convenience, and Dignity

Insulin pens offer important practical and medical advantages over traditional vial-and-syringe methods. The dial-based dosing mechanism improves dosing accuracy and ease of use, while the portability and durability of pens reduce concerns about breakage and transportation. Pens also allow people to administer insulin more discreetly in public settings, helping to reduce stigma associated with diabetes management. Patient preference strongly supports insulin pens, reflecting both improved safety and quality of life considerations. They were included in the World Health Organization’s 2003 and 2025 Essential Medicines List..

Significant disparities exist between diabetes care in high-income countries and that in many low- and middle-income countries. While people in high-income countries routinely benefit from insulin analogues and pen delivery systems, many others are restricted to older therapies associated with greater risks and reduced flexibility. Recent discontinuations of human insulin pens and ongoing insulin shortages demonstrate the further exacerbation of vulnerability of people already facing inequities in diabetes care. This unequal access creates a clear double standard in diabetes care and undermines the principle that all people deserve the opportunity to live healthy and fulfilling lives. Strong leadership from the World Health Organization with Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines is essential to end the double standard in diabetes care.

People living with diabetes bring essential lived experience to discussions about treatment standards and healthcare policy. Decisions regarding diabetes care should incorporate patient perspectives, including considerations related to safety, usability, dignity, and quality of life. Ethical patient engagement in policymaking, including at the World Health Organization, is necessary to ensure that global guidance reflects both clinical evidence and the real-world needs of the communities they are intended to serve.

Inclusion of insulin analogues and insulin pens in the World Health Organization’s Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines would represent an important step toward equitable, evidence-based, and person-centered diabetes care. These recommendations have the potential to shape treatment standards globally for years to come. Ensuring equitable access to modern insulin therapies is not only a matter of medical best practice, but also one of fairness, dignity, and health equity for people living with diabetes worldwide.

About the petition: 

Around the world, people living with type 1 diabetes face stark inequality in access to care. While insulin analogues and pens are considered standard of diabetes care in many high-income countries, millions of people elsewhere are still limited to older human insulins and syringes that reduce flexibility, increase burdens, and impede quality of life.

The World Health Organization will soon finalize its Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines. These recommendations will shape diabetes care policies, treatment standards, procurement decisions, and access to medicines globally for years to come.

This is a critical moment to speak up for equitable, evidence-based, and patient-centered care. Join us in calling on the World Health Organization to include insulin analogues and insulin pens in its guidance.

Your signature and your story matter. Personal experiences help show the real-life impact of diabetes care decisions. By sharing your experience with insulin access, affordability, stigma, flexibility, or quality of life, you can help the World Health Organization decision-makers understand why this level of diabetes care is not a luxury but a necessity that everyone living with diabetes deserves, no matter where they live.

We will deliver this petition and community stories to the World Health Organization on Monday, May 25. Sign the petition today and add your voice to call for fair, dignified and equitable diabetes care for all.

Petition Text: 

To: The World Health Organization: 

We call on the World Health Organization to ensure its Type 1 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines support equitable access to modern, evidence-based diabetes care by:

1. Including insulin analogues as a standard of care for all people living with type 1 diabetes, recognizing their benefits for safety, flexibility, and quality of life;

2. Including insulin pens as a standard of care for all people living with type 1 diabetes, recognizing their advantages for dosing accuracy, convenience, portability, discretion and patient dignity; and

We further urge the World Health Organization to center the lived experiences of people with diabetes in all guideline and policy development processes.