International expert flags how Australia is ‘lagging’ behind in diabetes care

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International expert flags how Australia is ‘lagging’ behind in diabetes care

Australia is lagging years behind in diabetes care, with many unable to afford the latest technologies due to a lack of financial help from the Federal Government, a world-renowned expert says.

Continuous glucose monitors — small wearable sensors that automatically measure glucose levels — are leaving many Australians with no choice but to pay up to $5000 a year or self-monitor via antiquated finger ****** tests.

This is a far cry from most of Western Europe which offers free CGMs for type 1 and type 2 diabetes sufferers that rely on insulin injections to keep their glucose at a safe level.

There are 130,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition that can be caused by genetics, while there is an estimated 1.2 million people in the country living with type 2 diabetes, which can develop over time when the pancreas starts making less insulin than it used to.

Diabetes Technology Network *** chair Pratik Choudhary visited Perth this week as part of the Australasian Diabetes Congress and said he was surprised at the lack of access in Australia to the ground-breaking CGMs.

In 2022 the National Diabetes Services Scheme subsidised CGMs to all Australians with type 1 diabetes. Those eligible have to “co-pay” $32.50 each month or $390 a year — a subsidy not extended to those with type 2 diabetes, which is more than 85 per cent, and they are not covered by private health insurance.

Dr Choudhary said this had led to a gap in care and access for Australians living with diabetes.

Camera IconClaire Power uses continuous glucose monitoring for her Type 2 diabetes infrequently due to the high costs. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West ***********

“In 2017, the *** had about 5 to 10 per cent of people using CGMs … in 2022 it was at about 95 per cent so now I do not see people in the *** that have to ****** their fingers. It’s just a thing consigned to the history books,” he said.

“And maybe part of the reason why Australia has developing inequality is because there is a co-pay of $30-$35 a month on there, which doesn’t exist in any Western ********* country.

“CGM is free for all people who live with this and actually for most of those countries it’s free for everyone on insulin.”

Claire Power, who has had type 2 diabetes for 20 years, is forking out $204 a month or $2448 a year to have the CGM which prevents her from having serious side effects from low glucose levels, including dizziness, confusion and even ******.

“I started using this technology when it first came out but I stopped because I couldn’t afford it . . . now that I’m on insulin I have to have it because I live by myself and this tool can save my life,” she said.

“If I had a low I could **** in my sleep but with this sensor if I have a low my phone goes off to let me know.”

Ms Power said she had to cut down on her groceries and food for her dogs to be able to afford the CGMs every month.

“If you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel and you need to have this for diabetes you shouldn’t have to pick and choose what you’ve got to go without,” she said.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconProfessor Pratik Choudhary. Credit: Ian Munro/The West ***********

Automated insulin delivery via a hybrid closed loop pump is another technology *********** diabetes patients are going without — despite it being recognised as the most effective method to improve diabetes management.

Dr Choudhary warned Australia was so far behind that those with diabetes were missing out on the latest diabetes technology.

“I think a lot of energy is going towards getting more subsidies for CGM so I don’t really hear a noise about automated insulin delivery hybrid closed loop systems,” he said.

“We’ve got a five-year rollout plan where we’ve been given the target by the English government to make sure all people with type 1 diabetes have access to closed loop therapy.

“Diabetes has a 10-year reduction in life expectancy and I think for people diagnosed in the *** today who get access to the hybrid closed loop therapy that just won’t be the case. We won’t see that reduction in life expectancy.”

Australians with diabetes have to fork out $8500 to $10,000 if they want a HCL pump.

A recent Federal parliamentary inquiry into diabetes recommended subsidised access to CGMs be further expanded to all types of diabetes requiring regular insulin.

It also recommended the Federal Government explore expanding subsidised access to insulin pumps for all Australians with type 1 diabetes.

“If we can get CGM access for people with diabetes, irrespective of their type, if they’re on insulin, I think the clinical benefit is there,” *********** Diabetes Society chief executive Sof Andrikopoulos said.

“There is multiple studies that have shown that you get much better glucose management but also reduction in future complications and better quality of life with technology like the CGM.”

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