This Valentine’s Day, Spare a Rose to Save a Child

If you follow TrialReach through our blog or social media channels, you know that we have been focusing on helping diabetes patients find and take part in clinical trials through our new free search tool, TrialReach Match™ . This is important because there can be no new treatments or cures for diabetes without people taking part in medical research.

However, while we (im)patiently wait for better treatments to be developed, there are people living in other parts of the world who cannot afford to wait for these new drugs to be approved; people who live with uncontrolled diabetes because they don’t have access to even basic diabetes drugs such as insulin.

This week, our partner websites have been awash in a sea of digital red roses thanks to the Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign. And we couldn’t help but take notice.

The premise of Spare a Rose, Save a Child is simple: Red roses are a staple of Valentine’s Day. So much so that an estimated $1.9 billion is spent on flowers each February 14th. Imagine what just a fraction of that amount could mean for a person who has trouble affording insulin. For the price of one rose ($5), you can provide a child living with diabetes the tools he or she needs to manage the disease for one month. For the price of a dozen roses ($60), you can provide those tools for a full year.

Thanks to last year’s campaign, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) provided insulin, testing strips, and other essential services to more than 400 children around the globe. This year, IDF aims to double the number of children reached. If they are successful, the lives of nearly 1,000 young people will be made safer through access to basic diabetes treatments most of us take for granted.

At the heart of our work is the recognition that medical and technological advances bring peace of mind, hope, and health to people living around the globe. Campaigns like Spare a Rose, Save a Child remind us that behind every click on our website there is a person searching for potentially life-saving treatments. And while we work together to develop these new treatments, it is important to remember that a child with uncontrolled diabetes does not have the luxury of time.

So this Valentine’s Day we ask that you join us in buying a dozen digital roses. The two minutes you give today will buy a child in need another year to just be a kid.

Originally published at blog.trialreach.com on February 11, 2016.