It would appear from the Global Access to Insulin and Diabetes Supplies Survey, 2003 that blood glucose testing strips are even less accessible than insulin. Urine testing strips are significantly more accessible because they are much more affordable. They provide a viable testing method in the absence of affordable glucose testing. Nevertheless, there seems to be evidence that the use of urine strips may be decreasing without a commensurate increase in the use of blood glucose testing strips.
Only 40 countries in the survey had access to insulin syringes and needles all of the time (100%). Among the regions, Africa (AFR) had the lowest access to insulin syringes and needles. Europe (EUR) had the highest access followed by North America (NA) (see data table).
Urine testing seems to be the method of choice for self-monitoring of diabetes (see figure below). But in almost all countries suveyed, there were people who did not monitor their diabetes at all.
According to the survey, the main reasons, as shown in the figure below, for not practising self-monitoring were:
High cost of supplies was the major reason given by all responding countries in Africa, 75% of the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME), 71% in Europe, 90% in North America, 88% in South and Central America (SACA) and 86% in Western Pacific (WP), as shown in the figure below.
