About
No child should die of diabetes
Diabetes is fast emerging as one of the most serious health problems of our time – a global epidemic that claims more lives each year than HIV/AIDS.
Children with diabetes in the developing world are particularly vulnerable. Many lack access to proper care and the life saving medicines they need. As a result, they become chronically ill; many die quickly, while others develop severe complications such as kidney failure, blindness and nerve damage.
Directed by Academy Award-nominee Edward Lachman, the new documentary Life for a Child follows the journeys of children with type 1 diabetes amid the verdant mountains and swarming streets of Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries.
Through their eyes and in their words, we experience their life-and-death struggle to survive – and, in fact, even thrive through the medicines, care and hope provided by the International Diabetes Federation’s (IDF) Life for a Child Program.
The film was accepted into the short documentary competition at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, making its public world debut.
The Life for a Child film was produced by IDF, the world’s leading diabetes advocacy organization, and Eli Lilly and Company, a global leader in diabetes treatment, to raise awareness of the devastating impact of diabetes and increase support for the Life for a Child Program. The documentary is a production of Wayne Lachman Productions and doublewide media.
Life for a Child was filmed in October 2007 in bustling Kathmandu and the rugged mountainous Sindhuli region of Nepal, following the stories of three children and the sacrifices of their families:
- 11-year old Anupa, who, once each month, walks four hours through treacherous mountain passes simply to reach the bus that will take her to the diabetes clinic in the capital city of Kathmandu for treatment and blood sugar testing
- 16-year old Ashok, who dreams of becoming a teacher but struggles to balance his studies and work in the fields with insulin treatment
- 3-year old Angi, diagnosed with diabetes at just 18 months old, whose family moved to the city to stay close to the hospital, the only place they can receive care. “Our son is the most important thing in the world to us,” says his mother.
The film supports the landmark 2006 United Nations Resolution on Diabetes, which for the first time recognizes a non-infectious disease as serious a global health threat as infectious epidemics such as HIV/AIDS.
Director: Edward Lachman (Academy Award nominee in 2003 for cinematography for Far From Heaven)
Executive Producer: J. Scott MacGregor, Eli Lilly and Company
Producers: Don Faller, doublewide media; Wayne Lachman, Wayne Lachman Productions
About the Life for a Child Program
Inspiring the documentary is the Life for a Child Program, which provides access to care, education and life-saving medicines and supplies to support children with diabetes in 17 of the poorest countries around the world, including Nepal. The program was established by the International Diabetes Federation in partnership with Diabetes Australia-NSW and HOPE worldwide. Eli Lilly and Company, Rotary International and other sponsors, including individual donors, provide financial support.
The program provides support to children with diabetes in Azerbaijan, Bolivia, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Fiji, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Mali, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.
For more information, visit www.lifeforachild.org