* This post has been written by our previous Social Media Manager. *

Living with diabetes is hard. Especially when you’re thrust into this whole new world of carb counting, routine insulin injections, and regularly checking your blood glucose levels when you’ve never had to worry about it before.

Having a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is extremely daunting. Finding out your immune system has mistakenly attacked your cells to the point where your pancreas has permanently stopped producing enough insulin for quite some time, and not knowing a thing about it, can be difficult to stomach. I’ve cried day and night about it, lashed out at the people I love and care about most (for which I’m sorry!), and just generally felt lost. Even though it’s a hundred times easier to manage your diabetes now than it was 100 years ago, when it was literally a death sentence, it can still be emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing to hear those two words: “You’re diabetic.”

Being type 1 means I’ll be treated with insulin for the rest of my life. Fortunately, everyone with T1D is prescribed diabetic medicine for free on the NHS (providing you have a valid medical exemption certificate.) We’re very lucky in the UK to have this universal healthcare and I’m grateful for it – as I can’t live without insulin. It is fellow diabetics around the world who I feel empathetic toward – especially those in the US, where the insulin price cap has just recently been blocked.

This is why I believe insulin should be free for all – regardless of nationality, age, gender, race or ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. It shouldn’t be treated like a postcode lottery, nor should it be on a first come, first served basis. No one should need to break the bank for medication they need to be able to live. Life is expensive enough – we don’t need medical costs to add to that burden.