Dr Freelander MP calls for action as diabetes crisis deepens and federal strategies stall

Diabetes Australia hosted an event at the NSW Parliament, where Dr Mike Freelander MP, Chair of Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport, briefed Members of Parliament on the recommendations from the Parliamentary Inquiry into Diabetes.

Nearly 1.5 million Australians are officially registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) as living with diabetes. Yet, it is estimated that an additional half a million Australians remain undiagnosed, silently living with the condition.

Charisma Kaliyanda MP and Emily Suvaal MLC spearhead the Parliamentary Friends of Diabetes group, which convened to discuss the escalating rates of type 2 diabetes among young people, the need for increased subsidies for health technologies for those living with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and the critical importance of widespread screening.

“There are many new treatments available for type 2 diabetes, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, including the well-known drug Ozempic. These are life-changing for some people. However, they are very expensive, require continuing treatment, and have been in short supply,” said Suvaal during the tabling of the Inquiry report, The State of Diabetes Mellitus in Australia in 2024.

Suvaal further emphasised, “For type 1 diabetes, there is increasing evidence that a hybrid closed-loop insulin pump system leads to better outcomes. However, those systems are only available for a limited number of patients, and more must be done to increase the availability of that technology.

“We pay more for insulin pumps in Australia than in many other developed countries, which is directly attributed to the lack of competition and providers of technology available. As is almost always the case, prevention, early intervention, and accessible, wraparound, integrated treatment are key.”

The medical costs associated with living with diabetes are significant, with individuals paying twice as much for healthcare compared to those without diabetes. Those who suffer from diabetes-related complications incur more than double the medical expenses of those without complications. The cost to NSW Health for diabetes-related treatments amounted to $1.8 billion in 2019-20 and is projected to soar to $2.55 billion by 2028-29.

Despite these alarming trends, current measures have fallen short. The Australian National Diabetes Strategy, with its seven well-outlined goals, and the Parliamentary Inquiry into Diabetes Report, which includes 23 crucial recommendations, both lack a critical element: implementation.

“For both of these Federal Government initiatives, there is no implementation plan and no associated funding,” said A/Professor Sof Andrikopoulos, CEO of the Australian Diabetes Society (ADS). “We’ve poured time and effort into a national strategy and a parliamentary inquiry, but we’ve dropped the ball on the most important part: implementation.”

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