Azerbaijan | Life for a Child with Diabetes

Azerbaijan is a Republic in Central Asia on the Western edge of the Caspian Sea, which regained its independence from Russia in 1991. The capital city is Baku, with a population of 1.1 million. The Diabetes Centre in Baku looks after 54 children with diabetes - about half the children with diabetes in the city. The co-ordinating physician is Dr Ahmedov Gunduz. Insulin and syringes are provided by the Government, but the cost of blood glucose monitoring is prohibitive for most families. Therefore, the average HbA1c (a measure of long-term control of blood sugar levels) is very high - 12.2%. Complications of diabetes occur more frequently and earlier with such high HbA1c levels, and indeed the Centre is seeing these frequently. The funds sent by our Program will support monitoring with visual testing strips for all 54 children.

April 2005

Child and mother in Ganja learning about self-monitoring with visual glucose strips

The program continues to support self-monitoring for all children with diabetes in Baku, the capital. The second city in Azerbaijan is Ganja, in the west, close to the border with Armenia. With funds from Division of Endocrinology staff at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Dr. Gunduz Ahmedov and some of his colleagues travelled to Ganja to assess the situation. They conducted a seminar for children with diabetes and their parents, with reports on treatment, complications and self-monitoring. This was followed by a group workshop with training in techniques of insulin injections, self-monitoring and discussion of diet issues. Clinical situations were also reviewed. It was noted that many children had signs of chronic, and some already have complications. We will extend further assistance to Ganja later this year.

June 2006

As reported in Update 8, the Program now supports children in the two largest cities in Azerbaijan – the capital Baku and the city Ganja in the west of the country. The Government supports clinics and supplies insulin – we provide funds for self-monitoring of blood glucose to reduce the high rate of complications. Here are some photos of sponsored children at the Diabetes Centre in Baku: