Russians with diabetes denied access to glucose monitoring
Russians with Diabetes Denied Access to Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems
14.10.2025
Article published on the moscowtimes.ru website
At least 7,000 Russians with type 1 and type 2 diabetes (5,200 and 1,800 people respectively) have stopped receiving continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors, which allow them to track their blood sugar levels and had previously been provided free of charge through public funding.
The news was reported by the media outlet RBC, quoting the Moscow Diabetic Association (MDA). According to a letter sent by the organisation to the Moscow Department of Health, despite all patients having being approved for the procurement of CGM sensors for 2025, they have not received them since spring. In addition, people are being denied access to medical commissions, which decide whether adult patients can receive these devices individually purchased from regional budgets. In its letter, the MDA called on officials to investigate the situation.
The issue was also discussed in August at the Council of Public Organisations for the Protection of Patients’ Rights, within the Moscow branch of Roszdravnadzor (the Federal Service for Healthcare Supervision). In September, the Investigative Committee reported that it had launched an inquiry following complaints from Moscow residents about refusals to conduct medical commission reviews and provide CGM sensors.
In October, the Moscow Department of Health, in a response letter to the MDA, stated that there is no officially approved procedure for the preferential provision of CGM sensors to diabetics, adding that they ‘can indeed be purchased with the approval of medical commissions’. The department also stated that it had not recorded ‘a single case of refusal to conduct’ MCs for patients who ‘objectively require the prescription of a CGM sensor’. The department added that it was not aware of any cases in which people who had been prescribed a CGM sensor were not provided with one at public expense.
Officials noted in their reply that the primary method of glycaemic self-monitoring remains the use of test strips and glucometers. According to them, CGM sensors can only serve as an additional tool rather than a replacement, since test strips measure actual blood sugar levels, while CGM sensors measure glucose ‘in the interstitial fluid of subcutaneous tissue’. The department added that all adult patients in Moscow receive test strips free of charge.
The provision of CGM sensors to Russian patients is part of the national project ‘Combating Diabetes Mellitus’ that aims to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disease which, according to the Ministry of Health, affects around six million people in Russia. Under the national project, however, free CGM sensors are only provided to children and pregnant women with diabetes – a group totalling fewer than 200,000 people. At present, according to the patient support association Diabetes Life, about 65% of Russians with type 1 diabetes use CGM sensors, but only 10% of them receive them free of charge.
Next year, the Government plans to cut funding for the “Combating Diabetes Mellitus” project by 13%, or 8.4 billion roubles (this year’s allocation stands at 9.6 billion), due to a shortage of funds caused by the ongoing war against Ukraine.
