On 31 August 2026, HRIDAY and Beyond Type 1 held the first webinar in the Grassroots to Global ambassador series, "One Diagnosis, Different Realities: Ambassadors on Living with Type 1 Diabetes", bringing together 75 participants from across India. Moderated by Dr Mansi Chopra, Director-Research, HRIDAY, the session connected India’s growing ambassador network to the global type 1 diabetes movement and put lived experience at the centre of the conversation.

Armando Falcon, Social Impact Director, Beyond Type 1, set out the Global Ambassador Programme and its three pillars elevating lived experience, capacity building and leadership, and catalysing community-led action making the case that while the clinical definition of diabetes is universal, the experience of living with it is deeply local. Riddhi Modi, National Ambassador Coordinator, traced the India journey from Phase 1 to Phase 2: the network has grown from 14 ambassadors to 234 across the country, supported by scientifically reviewed IEC resources now available in five Indian languages, an onboarding and coordination system, and links to local partner organisations. Recent activity shared with participants included a virtual movement campaign, a training of trainers programme, ambassador meetings extending into the Northeast, a community event in Pune, and a large-scale event with the Kerala Type 1 Diabetes Society in Vadakara at which 1,008 CGMs were provided with support from the local Rotary Club and around 475 people attended.
Three lived experience ambassadors, Chhavi Gupta (Yog Dhyan Foundation), Yash Shewale (UDAAN) and Dr Pratima (Nityaasha Foundation) shared their diagnosis journeys, several of them marked by initial misdiagnosis, incomplete insulin regimens and an absence of education at the time of diagnosis. They then named one ask and one hope each. The asks were concrete: accessible and affordable insulin and monitoring supplies; continuous glucose monitors brought under government health schemes; and rapid and ultra-rapid acting insulins, or affordable generic versions, added to public procurement alongside the regular and basal insulins already available. Participants also raised the financial and opportunity cost of managing T1D in low-resource settings, the importance of peer and family support, and the need to treat mental health as integral rather than incidental to diabetes care.

The discussion closed on a shared theme: education must be empowering and grounded in the resources people actually have, and advocacy must include voices from geographies too often left out, hill and tribal districts, rural communities and the Northeast in shaping policy and materials, not only in receiving them. The webinar is the first in a continuing series in which ambassadors themselves will take a leading role.