Back in November, during our long-awaited DCB Start-Up Night, we successfully launched our very first crowdfunding initiative, supporting the People’s Diabetes Foundation Belize.

At the very same time, Bridget McNulty was on that same stage pitching for her initiative Africa Diabetes Chat as a finalist in our DCB Open Innovation Challenge. She scored second place in the category Digital Diabetes and we’ve maintained a valuable exchange ever since. Now, it’s time to combine all of those efforts and reach out to the whole community – to get the innovative Africa Diabetes Chat WhatsApp chatbot from the big stage into the hands of the people who need it most.

Join us in crowdfunding CHF 5,000 for the project and help us give South Africans with diabetes the tools they need to survive: Donate now!

Meet Bridget from the Sweet Life Diabetes Community in South Africa

Sweet Life is South Africa’s largest online diabetes community. They’re a non-profit and a public benefit organisation, and the primary focus is on diabetes education that people can understand, and relate to. Diabetes is the number one killer of women in South Africa, the number two killer of men. There is no national diabetes education programme, which means people don’t understand their condition – they are dying unnecessarily. Sweet Life is South Africa’s leading voice in diabetes, and they have an innovative solution for the problem: a WhatsApp diabetes education chatbot! Listen to Bridget tell their story and learn how Africa Diabetes Chat will help many people living with diabetes in South Africa:

How will your donation help?

Your donation helps give South Africans with diabetes the tools they need to stay alive. We all know that “knowledge is power”, but that knowledge has to actually be in the right format, and the right language, at the right health literacy level, to the right person – exactly when they need it. A WhatsApp chatbot has the power to do exactly that and each donation to our crowdfunding campaign empowers more South Africans with diabetes!

Where will your donation go?

Sweet Life Diabetes Community has spent the last three years developing foundational diabetes education content that they have been sending to clinics nationwide in leaflet form. The problem with print, however, is that it’s expensive and difficult to distribute. WhatsApp solves this problem by giving them direct access to people on their phones (there is a staggering 96% WhatsApp penetration in South Africa!)

Your donation will fund the full-time project manager, content development (text, images, video), translation and – critically – monitoring and evaluation. They have created focus groups across South Africa to test that this chatbot is truly useful, and understandable. The community is at the heart of everything we do – and that’s one big part of why we at Diabetes Center Berne want to support this impactful initiative.

Donate Now and Help Us Crowdfund Innovative Diabetes Education in South Africa

A little donation can make a big impact for people living with diabetes in South Africa – luckily, Swiss Francs translate to a lot of South African Rands! Any donation you can offer helps more South Africans with diabetes get the tools they need to stay alive. Join our crowdfunding for Africa Diabetes Chat by Sweet Life Diabetes Community and help us make a lasting impact: Donate now on wemakeit!

For any further questions about this crowdfunding initiative, please feel free to contact Svea Krutisch at DCB or Bridget McNulty at Sweet Life Diabetes Community.

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll provide you with the next episode of our newsletter soon!

Today is 29 February – the rarest day of the year, only occurring every 4 years during a leap year. As rare as this day – or most of the times even rarer – are many diseases which qualify as “rare diseases”. Between 7,000 and 8,000 rare diseases have been identified worldwide and around 300 million people live with at least one [1, 2]. Rare Disease Day was brought to life by advocacy organisations as an opportunity to raise awareness for rare diseases and to call for a human rights priority at local, national and international level.

Now you might be thinking, “That’s great, but what does it have to do with diabetes?”. Most people would perhaps consider diabetes as the opposite of a rare disease when about 537 million people worldwide live with the disease, making it a prevalence of 1 in 10 [3].

However, most outlets usually only cover the most common type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. In reality, there are many other types which are considered rare types, and some of them are results of rare diseases. In this newsletter, we want to draw your attention to some of them, to honor all people living with diabetes – no matter how rare the type!

Secondary Diabetes

Rare forms of diabetes are often classified as “secondary diabetes”, meaning that the manifestation of diabetes is the result of another disease or medication [5]. There are different types, induced by either genetic mutations, different syndromes or medications such as steroids [5].

MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young)

MODY is a rare form of monogenic diabetes, caused by a mutation in a single gene. If a parent has it, children have a 50% chance of inheriting it. With only 1-2% of all people with diabetes living with MODY, it is very rare compared to the common types. Because of its rare character, it is estimated that 90% of people are misdiagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes at first [4]. MODY typically manifests under the age of 25 and treatment does not necessarily require insulin. There are many different subtypes, depending on which gene the mutation occurs in [4].

Cystic Fibrosis Diabetes

As the name suggests, this type of diabetes is a result of the genetic condition Cystic Fibrosis. While people living with Cystic Fibrosis can also develop type 1 or type 2 diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis Diabetes is considered a separate type. It is caused by sticky mucus typical in Cystic Fibrosis scarring the pancreas and damaging the parts responsible for insulin production [6].

Type 3c Diabetes

Type 3c Diabetes is often also referred to as “pancreatogenic diabetes” – it is caused by damage to the pancreas, or its removal [7]. Reasons for the development can thus be an acute or chronic inflammation of the pancreas, pancreatic cancer or other conditions. Type 3c Diabetes can be managed with medication or insulin injection, depending on the extent of pancreatic damage [7].

Alström Syndrome

Alström syndrome is an extremely rare disease, estimated to affect less than 1 in a million [8]. It is a genetically inherited syndrome which affects eyesight, hearing and other parts of the body. As a result of Alström Syndrome, people often develop an insulin resistance and a type 2 diabetes [9].

Wolfram Syndrome

Wolfram Syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder estimated to affect 1 in 160,000–770,000 people [11]. It is often also referred to as “DIDMOAD syndrome” – an acronym for its four most common features Diabetes Insipidus, Diabetes Mellitus, Optic Atrophy and Deafness [10]. The Diabetes Mellitus which comes with this syndrome is different to other types of diabetes and usually manifests during childhood [11]. It is commonly treated with insulin, similar to type 1 diabetes [10].

There are many more subcategories and other genetic disorders that can cause the onset of type 2 or type 1 diabetes, or classify as an entirely different type. To mark Rare Disease Day, we want to hold space for all of these types and the medical diversity within Diabetes Mellitus. Whereas at DCB, we commonly interact with the common types of diabetes, diabetes technologies can benefit all people living with diabetes, regardless of type and pathophysiology. Our aim is to make life easier for all people living with diabetes – including extremely rare forms.

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll provide you with the next episode of this series soon!

[1] Federal Office of Public Health Switzerland: Numerous Rare Diseases and Many People Affected.

[2] Rare Disease Day: What is a Rare Disease?

[3] IDF Diabetes Atlas

[4] Diabetes UK: MODY

[5] Nomiyama T, Yanase T. [Secondary diabetes]. Nihon Rinsho. 2015 Dec;73(12):2008-12. Japanese. PMID: 26666145.

[6] Diabetes UK: Cystic Fibrosis Diabetes

[7] Marshall JD, Maffei P, Collin GB, Naggert JK. Alström syndrome: genetics and clinical overview. Curr Genomics. 2011 May;12(3): 225-35. doi: 10.2174/138920211795677912. PMID: 22043170; PMCID: PMC3137007.

[8] Diabetes UK: Type 3c Diabetes

[9] Alström Syndrome UK: Alström Syndrome

[10] Diabetes UK: Wolfram Syndrome

[11] Urano F. Wolfram Syndrome: Diagnosis, Management, and Treatment. Curr Diab Rep. 2016 Jan;16(1):6. doi: 10.1007/s11892-015-0702-6. PMID: 26742931; PMCID: PMC4705145.

This edition was authored by DCB Digital Communications Specialist Svea Krutisch.