Diabetes is a serious multifaceted condition which can affect the entire body. Diabetes requires daily self-care and has the ability to develop life threatening complications. This can be very disruptive to a person’s quality of life. Diabetes has the potential to reduce life expectancy. Currently there is no cure for diabetes, however diabetes can be managed well through good education. There are different types of diabetes; all types are complex and serious. The three main types of diabetes are type 1, type 2 and gestational.
Diabetes Australia believes we need to make it easier for Australians living with diabetes to self-monitor their glucose levels and better self-manage their condition. Diabetes Australia believes that every person with diabetes should be able to access and use technologies that help them manage their diabetes to the best of their ability, to protect their health and quality of life.
Currently, there are 1.2 million Australian adults living with diabetes (including both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes). Did you know that there are 4400 diabetic amputations every year in Australia? That equates to at least 12 people today.
Should diabetics not have access to free quality equipment to manage their diabetes? Surely it makes sense to be proactive in the initial phase than to spend thousands of dollars in hospital admissions later. Can we really put a cost on health?
Last year the Federal Government announced it would invest an additional $100 million over four years to support patients with type 1 diabetes. The move is designed ensure free continuous glucose monitoring devices are available to more than 37,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes. Sounds too good to be true? Because it is, it comes with conditions:
Eligibility for fully subsidised continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices will be expanded under the National Diabetes Services Scheme to include: women with type 1 diabetes who are pregnant, breastfeeding or actively planning a pregnancy, people with type 1 diabetes aged 21 years or older who have concessional status, and who have a high clinical need (such as experiencing recurrent severe hypoglycaemic events) ,children and young people with conditions similar to type 1 diabetes who require insulin (this includes a range of conditions such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes or neonatal diabetes).
The subsidy is great but the subsidies should be for all.
I personally would like to see the medicine and CGM devices free for all diabetics.
Allowing diabetics assess to free quality equipment can only benefit the health service and government funding in the long run as the initial cost will outweigh the later expenditure with hospital admissions. People who are looking after and managing their diabetes with the latest technology would be less likely to have complications or be admitted to hospital for complications or amputations.
Minister Hunt said there are currently 120,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes and it is a condition growing at a rate of around 3500 per year.
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/federal-government-pledges-$100m-to-support-patien
Maybe it is time to carry out a study to find out why the rates are rising to try and help avoid the future diabetic costs.
The Deakin university found that taking 500mg of vitamin c twice daily can help those with type 2 diabetes by lowering elevated blood sugar levels across the day and minimising spikes in blood sugar after meals. The randomised cross-over study, recently published in the journal of diabetes , obesity and metabolism also found that vitamin c lowered blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes, suggesting benefits for heart health as well.
https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/news/15615?type=articles
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