Two cities paying for glucose monitoring devices for kids

ISTANBUL

The governors’ offices in the provinces of Tokat and Sivas are paying for a sensor that is planted under the skin to measure the blood sugar levels of children with type 1 diabetes.

The two provinces have decided to pay for devices for a year while two other provinces, Kütahya and Uşak, are planning to take similar action.

Children with type 1 diabetes must measure their blood sugar levels several times a day by using devices that require them to prick their fingers to collect a sample and then inject insulin.

Sometimes parents wait in front of schools to do this job for their children. Those sensors are making life much easier for children and parents, however, the country’s social security institution is not currently paying for those sensors.

“Children with type 1 diabetes need to measure blood sugar at least four times a day, before meals and in the evening to decide about the dose of insulin to be injected. Some more cautious parents do this finger-prick tests up to 10 to 15 times a day,” said Professor Şükrü Hatun, the head of the Foundation for Children with Diabetes.

He noted that the sensors planted under the skin measure blood glucose level every five minutes, up to about 288 times a day.

“Those devices improve the quality of lives of parents and children. Parents say their lives have returned to normal, they sleep better at night, they feel much secure,” Hatun said, adding that health authorities need to listen to demands from those families and that the state should help them get those devices.

“I need to test my blood sugar level every day. My parents used to do that, now I can do it by myself. But it hurts. It would be much better if I have something that does not require a prick test,” a 9-year-old child with diabetes said.