Jean Claude Katte

Introduction Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition that results from autoimmune destruction of the insulin-secreting pancreatic β cells. The condition affects approximately 9 million people worldwide and is the major global cause of childhood-onset diabetes, although it can occur at any age.1 Insights into the clinical manifestations and underlying pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes have been studied extensively.

In 2017, the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology published a landmark Commission on diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa.The Commission highlighted a wide range of issues related to the management of diabetes in the African continent. These issues included the scarcity of data on the true burden of diabetes and its related complications, challenges in the availability and affordability of medicines, a shortage of trained health-care workers, and generally ill-prepared health systems.