The Morrison Government is committed to tackling diabetes and is investing $2.8 million
to help prevent and treat diabetes-related blindness and foot complications.
Diabetes is a chronic condition that impacts the lives of more than 1.2 million Australians.
Coinciding with National Diabetes Week, Morrison Government funding will support two new programs:
- $1.5 million will be invested in the KeepSight Program, a national diabetes eye screening program which aims to prevent diabetes-related blindness by detecting problems early when they are treatable. This funding is on top of the $1 million in funding for this program already from the Government in 2018.
- $1.3 million will be provided to Diabetes Australia to develop the Foot Forward Program, aimed at preventing diabetes-related foot problems and amputations through early self-identification of foot problems and access to health professional services and high risk foot services.
We are aware of the significant impact diabetes has on people and their families, and are doing everything we can in working towards the broad prevention of the disease in the Australian community.
Subsidies are provided for essential medicines, like insulin, under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). In 2017–18, more than $597 million was spent on the PBS for diabetes-related medications.
The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) supports people to manage their diabetes through access to important information, vital services and subsidised products. Diabetes Australia works with the Government to deliver information and support services to people living with diabetes registered with the NDSS.
Our Government will spend more than $1 billion over four years, from 2018-19 through the NDSS, to support Australians with diabetes to self-manage their condition.
Patients can also be referred by their GP for up to five Medicare-eligible allied health services to help manage their diabetes.
The Morrison Government has invested more than $277 million to ensure more than 37,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes, including children and young people, women who are planning for pregnancy, pregnant or immediately post-pregnancy, and people with high clinical need, are able to access fully subsidised continuous glucose monitoring products.
The Government also funds the Insulin Pump Program to provide fully subsidised insulin pumps and subsidised insulin pump consumables for financially disadvantaged children with type 1 diabetes.
Meanwhile, the search for a cure to diabetes is ongoing and unrelenting.
Early this year, our Government announced $54.5 million for research into type 1 diabetes, with $50 million allocated through the Medical Research Future Fund. As well, since 2000, the National Health and Medical Research Council has provided $934.3 million in funding for diabetes research.
The Morrison Government is committed to keeping Australia at the forefront of research and further supporting our best and brightest researchers in their work to find, ultimately a cure for this dreadful disease.