People Power series: Advocacy and individual rights – Pei Yan Heng, Singapore

Pei Yan is a secondary school teacher living in Singapore. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1996, at the age of 10 years. Unusually for type 2 diabetes, Pei Yan requires the regular use of an insulin pump. As a citizen of Singapore, Pei Yan recognizes that she is privileged to live in a country with universal health care, with to access a well-resourced system that offers quality care services and essential medicines for people living with NCDs.

As a citizen of Singapore and a person living with type 2 diabetes, Pei Yan shares her experience and observations of global inequalities in access to essential medicines for people living with diabetes.

This article is an excerpt from the publication ‘People power - Perspectives from individuals with lived experience of noncommunicable diseases, mental health conditions and neurological conditions’, which includes six detailed case studies from 12 individuals with lived experience of diverse health conditions.

The case studies were developed using participatory research through focus groups with people with lived experience of NCDs, mental health conditions and neurological conditions.