Emmanuel Kisembo
My Story
I have seen first-hand how daunting a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is in Africa. On January 9, 2012, after an agonizing 2 weeks on oral and intravenous quinine for malaria, followed by a week on ciprofloxacin for typhoid and a final week on metformin, an orally-administered medication for Type 2 diabetes with the sole goal of bringing down the unrelenting 33mmol of glucose in my blood, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I emerged out of this diabetic ketoacidosis haze, a brand-new man. I knew my life had changed forever and the journey as a Type 1 diabetes warrior was afoot.i felt luck to be alive and reflected on those who unsuccessfully contended with our week medical infrastructure is weak. Healthcare workers are not so knowledgeable. Communities and schools are unaware and unsupportive, and type 1 diabetes is not necessarily on the radar of policy makers. Moreover, poverty is rampant. I believe that advocacy is critical to build awareness and education about type 1 diabetes in order to reduce stigma, increase access to resources and ultimately improve the lives of people with diabetes. Having lived with type 1 diabetes for 7.5 years now, I know that people living with type 1 diabetes are the greatest stakeholders in the fight.
My Advocacy
Equipped with advocacy tools from the Pamoja Advocacy Program, I am improving the lives of my fellow warriors. In Uganda, advocacy is needed to build awareness and education about diabetes in order to reduce stigma, increase access to resources and ultimately improve the lives of people with diabetes.
Advocacy puts problems on the agenda, and provides a solution to that problem. In this digital age, advocacy is not just about influencing public policy, but also influencing public opinion. I devote my time to raising awareness of diabetes, as it is important for diabetes to be understood by the whole community, not just those affected by diabetes.
My team has faced challenges, but together we achieved our advocacy goal for 2018: to improve understanding of type 1 diabetes and reduce stigma. Together we delivered 4 type 1 diabetes presentations in clinics in Gulu and Kampala. Many people with type 1 diabetes that we spoke to told us that they keep their diabetes a secret at school and in their communities. We feel this has contributed to the problem of lack of awareness in our country. Therefore, as part of our presentation, we emphasized the need for type 1 warriors starting conversations about diabetes in their schools and communities.
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