The need for clinical guidance and education was highlighted in the recent Boston Declaration and one of the four major targets the group prioritized to work towards was the establishment of a unified set of clinical and operational guidelines for diabetes care in humanitarian settings, including the development of clinical guidelines and educational materials. To meet this need, Open Access Diabetes: Diabetes Education for All (DEFA) was established to provide comprehensive open access diabetes education and clinical guidance for healthcare providers and create a portal for support and educational material for individuals living with diabetes in humanitarian settings.
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The goal of DEFA is to create a global online collaboration network to empower communities of healthcare professionals and people living with diabetes in humanitarian settings to collaborate and communicate internationally. Through this online education portal with applications in mobile health and several languages, health care providers and trainees will be able to access at no cost academically rigorous content and resources, such as on-demand educational modules, expert opinion, medical guidelines and protocols, clinical case discussions, educational materials, clinical and operational tool kits and clinical demonstrations. It will also provide education and a psychosocial support platform for individuals living with diabetes and their families. 
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Dr. Nuha El Sayed, Vice President of Healthcare improvement at the American Diabetes Association and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, is leading this initiative and is working in collaboration with Dr. Yuri Quintana, Chief of the Division of Clinical Informatics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School, who has developed several global online collaboration networks for health care delivery and innovative applications in mobile health. 
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It is our hope that DEFA will be a central, easy-to-access portal for comprehensive, reliable, and practical diabetes guidance and a support network for healthcare providers and individuals living with diabetes in humanitarian settings, ultimately leading to improved outcomes and reduced healthcare disparities for vulnerable populations with diabetes worldwide.
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DEFA is an independent nonprofit organization and is not a part of or affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center.