Your Diabetes NZ
MAKING OUR VOICES HEARD On 30 June, Diabetes NZ gave an oral presentation to the Health Committee, urging the government to fund continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) for those with type 1 diabetes.
Above: Our wonderful team of advocates for CGMs and FGMs at the Health Committee hearing on 30 June, 2021.
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early 30,000 people signed Diabetes NZ’s 2020 petition, which asked for important new medications to be funded for type 2 diabetes and for CGMs to be funded for people living with type 1. Covid-19 delayed our associated presentation to the government’s Health Committee, and while we were waiting to present, the government listened to some of the pleas being made and announced that new type 2 medications would be funded by Pharmac. We were deeply grateful for this result. However, we still have a lot of work to do to get CGMs funded for those who need them. We firmly focused our presentation on this, and we left feeling heard. PRESENTING THE STARK FACTS
Diabetes NZ Chief Executive Heather Verry presented first, followed by Associate Professor Dr Ben Wheeler, type 1 warrior Ruby McGill, and eight-year-old Eddie
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DIABETES WELLNESS | Spring 2021
Writes – all strong advocates for the type 1 community. Heather opened by describing the enormous inequity that needs to be resolved: only 30% of people who would benefit from CGMs are able to afford them. She pointed out the especially significant impact this has on children with diabetes and on their whānau. She asked the Health Committee to recommend to Pharmac that funding should be provided for both CGMs and FGMs (flash glucose monitors) for all people with type 1 diabetes without exception, to enable them to lead as normal life as possible. This would also significantly reduce the risk of long-term complications from diabetes and the personal as well as social costs of regular hospitalisation. Associate Professor Ben Wheeler, a paediatric endocrinologist, followed up with medical evidence, talking about his work with CGMs on their own, as well as paired with insulin pumps to form an ‘artificial pancreas’ system.
