How People with Diabetes in Developing Countries Cool Their Insulin
When it’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit and there’s no available refrigeration, the solutions are ingenious
My friend Jon recently returned from a research trip to Sierra Leone. He’s a graduate student in sociology at Boston University and was observing the work at a new clinic built to improve care for patients with chronic diseases like respiratory disease, cancer, and diabetes. The clinic, supported by the global health organization Partners In Health, is based in Kono District, a region with poor infrastructure, devastated by the civil war fought in the 90s and early 2000s over diamonds and other mineral resources.
While accompanying a nurse and a social worker from the clinic on their regular check-in visits to the rural villages surrounding Koidu, the capital of Kono District, Jon encountered a patient named Samuel. Samuel (whose name has been changed for privacy) is a trader and farmer, and also a Type 1 diabetic in his mid-30s. In order to live, he had to inject insulin every day.
Insulin is a protein and to maintain its potency, it must be kept at or below standard room temperature (20–25 C/68–77 F). If it gets too hot, it denatures, like egg-white in hot water, and becomes less effective. In regions where the…
