- Статьи
- Society
- A hard life: parents of children with diabetes ask to be allowed to connect to Wi-Fi in schools
A hard life: parents of children with diabetes ask to be allowed to connect to Wi-Fi in schools
Parents of children suffering from type 1 diabetes are asking schools to provide uninterrupted Internet access. A stable network is necessary for students with this disease to operate continuous glucose monitoring sensors. These are special systems that allow you to notice dangerous changes in time and avoid life-threatening conditions, experts say. How to help children with diabetes in the absence of the Internet — in the Izvestia article.
Looking for help
Members of the Ivanovo Diabetes Society are asking to provide schools in the region with a Wi-Fi network. Stable Internet access is necessary for children with diabetes mellitus to operate continuous glucose monitoring (NMG) systems. The initiative parents sent their proposals to the regional Commissioner for Children's Rights Svetlana Protasevich (the document is available to Izvestia).
In the appeal, they explained that the NMG children's sensors transmit information about glucose levels online to adult phones. However, they require a stable Network to function. At the same time, the authorities of the Ivanovo region periodically restrict the operation of the mobile Internet. And the structures of the buildings of many schools in the region (thick walls, basement floors, remoteness of classrooms) do not let the signal through. As a result, medical apps simply stop informing parents about their children's vital signs.
A solution to the problem could be to add the services necessary for glucose measurement to the "white list" of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, sites from which can function when the signal is blocked via a mobile channel. However, difficulties arose with the inclusion of services in this list, but the problem remained. To solve it, Ivanovo parents offer an alternative — open Wi-Fi in schools where children with diabetes study. According to the authors of the appeal, local access points are already available in many educational institutions. However, the school administration refuses to connect disabled children to this network, citing security policies or lack of appropriate instructions.
In this regard, members of the Ivanovo Diabetes Society are asking to develop and send to educational institutions in the region an order obliging them to provide children with diabetes with access to the school Wi-Fi network, explaining to the heads of educational institutions and those responsible for information security that this is necessary for medical reasons.
A pressing issue
It is worth noting that the issue of including applications for the operation of NMH sensors in the "white list" of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which is an alternative to connecting to Wi-Fi, has already been raised earlier. Anna Rudchenko, a journalist from Belgorod, drew attention to the problem during the direct line of Russian President Vladimir Putin. She explained that in the border regions, the systems are malfunctioning due to Internet outages.
The Head of State commented on the situation, presenting two possible solutions to this problem: switching to domestic software or using the capabilities of foreign specialists localized in Russia.
"If the components of these services are located abroad, then it is easier for the enemy — unfortunately, these are the realities of today — to choose targets for strikes," the Russian leader noted.
Later, Dmitry Ugnivenko, Deputy Minister of Digital Development of the Russian Federation, also spoke about the possibility of including sensor applications in the "white list". He noted that work in this direction is already underway, but confirmed the words of the head of state that services for this should be produced or localized in Russia.
And at this stage, the main difficulties arise. Currently, there are 10 continuous blood glucose measurement systems on the Russian market that are authorized by Roszdravnadzor. Most of the devices are foreign. The United States, the European Union and China are among the manufacturers.
A vital necessity
The principle of operation of all continuous glucose monitoring services is similar, says Andrey Kovalev, director of the Association for the Support of people with diabetes, Diabetes Life. The sensor pierces the upper layer of the skin and is inserted under it, usually on the arm or stomach, according to the press service of the autonomous non-profit organization for children and adults with diabetes, Diamaps. A transmitter is connected to the sensor via contactless communication, which transmits glucose level data to a receiver responsible for displaying user information. Then all the information is transmitted in real time to the smartphone and the server on the Internet.
The Internet is not required to receive information on a child's smartphone: all indicators are reflected in the application, says Kovalev. However, for the remote monitoring function, which allows parents or a doctor to see the indicators in real time, Network access is required on the device of the wearer of the system.
— In this case, the data from the application is transferred to a cloud server, and then displayed in the applications of parents or medical specialists, — explains the interlocutor of Izvestia.
He emphasizes that remote monitoring is critically important for the health of children with diabetes, since children, especially those of primary school age, are not always able to assess the danger of their glucose levels in a timely manner.
Due to the age, the child cannot always react correctly and on time, confirms Irina Baranova, chairman of the Udmurt regional public organization of Parents of children with diabetes, Dialiga. This increases the risk of hypoglycemia, which can lead to loss of consciousness, seizures, coma, and even death.
"Therefore, it is so necessary that the testimony reaches the parents and the attending physician in a timely manner, who, in turn, can react in time and prevent life—threatening conditions," the expert points out.
Adults will be able to quickly contact the child and suggest the necessary actions, Kovalev believes. For example, drink juice when the sugar level is low or inject insulin when it is high.
In conditions of unstable cellular coverage or lack of it, vital monitoring is interrupted, the Popular Front expert notes. Analytics", federal curator of the All-Russian Organization of Disabled Children Yulia Pankova.
— Parents and teachers lose the opportunity to control the child's condition when he is in an educational organization, which creates a direct threat to his life and health. The solution to this problem could be to provide targeted access to the school Wi-Fi network for children with type 1 diabetes to operate medical applications that monitor glucose levels, she is convinced.
A common situation
The problem with the lack of a Network necessary for the use of NMG systems is relevant not only for the Ivanovo region, Andrei Kovalev draws attention. In a number of Russian regions, parents of children with diabetes regularly experience interruptions in the operation of the mobile Internet.
For example, at the moment, restrictions on access to it, imposed by the decision of the Operational Headquarters against the background of external threats, are in effect in the Udmurt Republic, says Irina Baranova. Meanwhile, 583 children with type 1 diabetes mellitus, who are insulin-dependent and wear NMG sensors, live in the region. At the same time, schools cannot provide children with access to Wi-Fi, citing various reasons, the Izvestia interlocutor points out the problem.
Ekaterina Aristarkhova, chairman of the Ivanovo Public Organization of Families with Disabilities with Diabetes, confirms the existence of difficulties in this direction.
"Schools are denying access to Wi—Fi for medical devices everywhere due to the lack of clear instructions and a formal approach to the current rules," she says.
The expert sees the existing barriers as administrative rather than non-technical.
— Schools refuse parents of students, referring to information security and lack of orders, ignoring the legal explanations of Rosobrnadzor that this is a medical means to maintain life, — emphasizes Aristarkhova.
Official position
Parents of young patients have repeatedly raised the problem of Internet access for NMG systems, Yulia Pankova reports.
— The All-Russian Organization of Children with Disabilities has initiated appeals to the Ministry of Finance of Russia with a request to include medical applications for monitoring blood glucose in the "white list" of resources available in conditions of limited operation of the mobile Internet, and to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation with a request to ensure that applications can be connected to school Wi-Fi, — she says.
Irina Baranova also contacted the president's direct line with these questions. Her request was forwarded to the Ministry of Finance. The department reminded the chairman of Dialigi (the answer is available to Izvestia) that access to the most popular and socially significant Russian services and sites during periods of limited operation of the mobile Internet is currently provided by telecom operators in a pilot mode. A prerequisite for inclusion in the list is the presence of all used computing resources on the territory of the Russian Federation.
"The inclusion of blood glucose tracking services in the white list is being worked out by the Ministry of Finance of Russia together with the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and the Federal Service for Healthcare Supervision," the ministries said.
They clarified that today there are four domestic medical services that have been agreed to be included in the "white list". The list, according to the ministry, includes LLC "Elta", LLC "Inmi", LLC "M-Line" and NPP Shokin.
"In the near future, mobile radiotelephone operators will be able to access these services during periods of mobile Internet restrictions," the Ministry of Digital Affairs promised.
As a result of the direct line request, Irina Baranova received another response. It emphasizes that the mobile Internet is limited to protect strategically important facilities and facilities that ensure the livelihoods of the population from drone attacks.
"In restricted areas, the mobile Internet signal is completely turned off, as this is the most effective way to counter UAVs. At the moment, the restrictions imposed remain in place and will be lifted as soon as the situation permits," the letter says.
Separately, it stipulates that there is no technical possibility of selectively unblocking certain foreign mobile applications on the territory of the Udmurt Republic.
At the same time, the response confirms that continuous monitoring of blood sugar levels in schools and kindergartens can still be provided by connecting to the wireless network of an educational organization. But they advise each parent to solve problems individually by sending an appeal to the Izhevsk City Administration's education department describing the current situation and indicating the specific educational organization attended by the child who needs access to Wi-Fi.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance noted that the decision to include a particular service in the "white list" is made in consultation with relevant departments.
— Now the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Health, as well as with the authorities responsible for ensuring security, is working on the inclusion in the "white list" of several blood sugar monitoring systems that transmit information from personal medical devices to smartphones for remote monitoring. This should happen soon," the ministry assured.
The ministry also commented on the possibility of connecting to school Wi-Fi networks. The Ministry of Finance stated that within the framework of the national program "Digital Economy", which was replaced by the national project "Data Economics and Digital Transformation of the state", about 12 thousand buildings of Russian schools have already been provided with this technology.
However, as indicated in the ministry, such Wi-Fi, in accordance with the terms of reference, is not intended for connecting personal devices of students. The agency is currently working on options for changing the terms of reference, which may allow students with diabetes to use remote monitoring services smoothly.
— The Ministry of Digital Health has requested from the Ministry of Education a list of medical glucose monitoring applications used by parents, indicating the IP addresses of servers, ports, as well as protocols used to interact to receive and transmit data. We are currently waiting for a response from our colleagues. We hope for the speedy implementation of this important measure," the ministry concluded.
The editorial board of Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. No responses had been received at the time of publication.
Realistic scenario
It is indeed not yet possible to include popular continuous glucose monitoring services in the "white list" of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, since the cloud servers of such devices are located outside of Russia, confirms Andrey Kovalev.
— The inclusion of foreign services in the "white list" carries certain risks: Today, a useful and reliable solution is located at this IP address, and tomorrow something else is located," says Dmitry Ovchinnikov, information security architect at UserGate uFactor.
The number of NMH producing countries represented on the Russian market includes the United States, members of the European Union and China, according to the autonomous NGO Diamaps. This means that the servers of NMG services are often located in the territories of unfriendly countries.
At the same time, Russian telecom operators cannot reconfigure direct access to servers with services in order to ensure security, since the restructuring of the Russian segment of the Internet requires a lot of costs and approvals, the organization clarifies.
The real solution to the problem may indeed be the access of smartphones of children with diabetes to school Wi-Fi. But it is important to understand that not all educational institutions currently have the necessary infrastructure. However, the scenario of its deployment, according to Ovchinnikov, is not technically difficult for the relevant specialists.
— To cover a standard Wi-FI school, you will need from 10 to 16 access points and one wireless network controller. At the same time, connection to it can be carried out both selectively — individual students according to applications from parents — and with full access to students, but only to a limited list of resources, including glucose monitoring services," he explains.
Such an approach will allow standardizing the process of launching Wi-Fi networks and conducting them in the future according to a proven template, the Izvestia interlocutor claims. At the same time, it is important not to forget about information security measures — to protect Wi-Fi equipment and monitor the "white lists" of services and users.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
