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Diabetes Wellness Summer 2024: Editorial
Kia ora koutou. This has been an exciting quarter for Diabetes New Zealand. After nearly seven years of advocacy, continuous glucose monitors (CGM), insulin pumps, and insulin consumables for people living with type 1 diabetes will be funded from 1 October. The Pharmac announcement was greeted with joy and relief by those who have been struggling to fund their devices and those who have not been able to afford them.
Free access to these devices is not only life changing for thousands of New Zealanders living with type 1 diabetes but it is also lifesaving. This is more than just vital technology – it’s a lifeline for better health and greater freedom. Quite simply, it’s a game-changer.
As we know, type 1 diabetes affects people in different ways, so it was great to see that Pharmac recognised this in providing a choice of funded devices, given there is no one CGM device or insulin pump technology that works for everyone. Despite these choices, some people will be disappointed that not all devices currently being used by the diabetes community will be funded.
We acknowledge the power and support of the whole diabetes community in advocating for this funding over many years. We share this exciting news with everyone who works for and with the diabetes community – clinicians, educators, and health care professionals. We are indebted to the strong advocacy that’s also come from our diabetes community, who have shared their experiences and made a strong case for funding – we couldn’t have done it without them.
Our focus over the last few months has been to support people living with type 1 to access diabetes technology. We have done this by providing resources and guidance as people transition to funded devices and make decisions on what tech is best or start using this tech for the first time.
We applaud Pharmac for its commitment to supporting people with type 1 diabetes with this major funding announcement. However, our goal now is to ensure all New Zealanders living with diabetes who are on insulin, including those living with type 2 diabetes, have access to this technology.
For now, it is wonderful to know the whole type 1 diabetes community will benefit from this technology. In Australia, it took years to have funded access for all type 1s. We have lagged behind the rest of the world in having equitable access to this critical technology, but we have now caught up!
In this Summer issue of Diabetes Wellness, among other topics, we say farewell to our Board Chair, Catherine Taylor – who, after giving us eight years of outstanding service and personal commitment, is standing down.
