How medical technology is tackling China’s diabetes crisis

When she was pregnant, Dan Xu got diabetes. It’s not uncommon, with the high blood sugar levels often resolving themselves after birth. But it meant weeks of finger pricking and glucose monitoring – time-consuming, painful and often impractical alongside daily life.

This experience became instrumental in her choice to take up the role of Chief Marketing Officer at MicroTech Medical, a China-based company aimed at driving innovation in diabetes management. Through medical devices like continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps, the company is aiming to bring more freedom and flexibility to those with diabetes.

Back in 2016, the World Health Organization described the growth of diabetes in China as “explosive”. By 2021, there were an estimated 141 million diabetics in the country – that’s a tenth of the population, the highest level globally.

Without urgent action to reduce lifestyle risk factors like unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity, that number is expected to increase to 150 million by 2040, the WHO added.

China is far from alone in seeing the prevalence of the disease rise though. Middle- and lower-income countries, in particular, are witnessing a growing number of cases. Figures for 2019 show an estimated 2 million people died of diabetes and kidney disease related to diabetes.

"Technologies like MicroTech’s core products offer a minimally invasive approach to disease management and have become widely available in China in recent years," says Dan.

Ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, Dan told us about the social impact of bringing new medical technologies to Asia, and what it means for the future of healthcare in the region.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

This is a very exciting era with fast-developing technologies in the medical sector. Besides health monitoring and wellness, there are exciting developments like robotic-assisted surgery. Not only does it make smaller incisions, reduce scarring and help with faster recovery, but it also enables experts to do surgeries remotely.

Technology is also changing patient education ... empowering the patients to be active participants in taking care of themselves using mobile apps, online platforms and virtual communities.

For instance, we use an AI-empowered chat function to provide knowledge to diabetes patients on how to leverage therapeutic solutions and establish healthy personal habits to manage their health. This approach allows us to serve over 100,000 people at the same time.

There are three main areas.

The first is online diagnostics. People worldwide can consult with healthcare professionals remotely through video calls, phone calls and online chat. This technology has become especially valuable during COVID-19, allowing individuals to receive medical advice and prescriptions without visiting a clinic. The use of these platforms is growing rapidly in China.

Secondly, it is allowing ‘remote’ patients to make use of monitoring devices and wearable sensors like continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS). These devices can collect very crucial healthcare data and transmit it to relatives and healthcare providers for timely intervention and reduced hospital visits. Thousands of patients globally have been helped in this way using MicroTech CGMS.

And third is the use of AI in the research and development of new drugs. This could help lower the cost of research, and shorten its duration, making drugs ultimately more affordable and accessible.

I'm a woman leader. And I'm a mother now. I believe that love is the best motivation. I'm impressed to see those excellent professionals showing leadership in their jobs. But I'm also very impressed to see full-time mothers showing leadership at home.

One of my friends is a mother, and she put a continuous glucose monitor on every member of her family – and according to the individual data of different family members, customised their food and exercise. So she is an example of how leadership is everywhere and good leaders can come from anywhere.

Culture is very important. In MicroTech, we have more women employees than men, and gender equality is a part of our company's culture.

Our yearly marketing plan always has a specific part or project about social impact, which might include collaborating with diabetes foundations and other parties.

One of the key ways for us to measure the effectiveness and outcome of our social impact is the public awareness created around a specific disease and how it changes behaviour.

I have been working with the New Champions community for the past five years. It is a great community for enterprises to learn, communicate and build up business networks.

In recent years more new enterprises focusing on technology and healthcare have joined this community and it is helping our company broaden our horizons and foster business insights.