WellCare of Georgia reported on Wednesday that it has granted USD50,000 to the Memorial Health Foundation to fund a programme for low-income children with Type 1 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow blood sugar glucose to enter cells to produce energy.

Through the company's fundraising and philanthropic programmes, the Memorial Health Foundation supports the mission of Memorial University Medical Center to provide world-class health care services in southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina.

The funds will be used by Memorial University Medical Center for a programme serving low-income and medically underserved populations, educate them to recognize the early symptoms of the disease, provide individual counseling for pediatric patients and their families, daily diabetes management education, raise awareness of the disease as well as provide a greater understanding of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Each year in the US, 13,000 children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and more than 1.5m American children and adults live with the disease every day.

WellCare of Georgia is a subsidiary of WellCare Health Plans (NYSE:WCG), which focuses exclusively on providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex medical needs.