Media Releases

The Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance has welcomed last week’s Budget statement and announcements by both the Government and the Opposition to invest in chronic disease treatment and care, while calling on the major parties to commit to more action on prevention in the upcoming election campaign.

The 2019-20 Government Budget commitments for primary care, research and chronic disease Action Plans were welcomed, in addition to funding to tackle heart disease and stroke, announced on Thursday.

The Opposition’s Budget reply further recognised the burden of chronic disease in its focus on cancer and significant commitment of $2.3 billion to reduce cancer inequities and patient costs.

Diabetes Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Lee to a new role to strengthen the focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and diabetes.

Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson said he was excited that Chris had taken on the challenge to help improve outcomes for First Nations people with diabetes.

“Chris is from the Larrakia peoples of Darwin in the Northern Territory and brings more than 25 years’ experience in effective engagement and consultation with First Nations communities,” Professor Johnson said.

Around 630,000 Australians with diabetes are at risk of vision loss or blindness because they aren’t having their eyes checked regularly.

Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson said diabetes was a leading cause of preventable blindness in working age Australians, yet with regular eye checks, most vision loss was preventable.

Diabetes Australia has welcomed the announcement by Hon Ken Wyatt AM, Minister for Indigenous Health of nearly $4m in funding to develop, pilot and implement new, culturally appropriate programs in Northern Australia to specifically help Indigenous children and youth affected by type 2 diabetes.

“West Australian data has shown rates of type 2 diabetes in young Aboriginal people may be 20-fold higher than in non-Indigenous young people,” said Professor Greg Johnson, CEO of Diabetes Australia.

Today thousands of Australians with type 1 diabetes will be able to access life-changing diabetes technology thanks to a $100 million expansion of the Federal Government’s Continuous Glucose Monitoring Funding Initiative.

Continuous glucose monitors were first subsidised in April 2017 for children and young people with type 1 diabetes but this was limited to those under 21 years of age. From today, subsidised access has been expanded to include:

The Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance welcomes support by the Australian Government and the federal Opposition for a Medicare item to prevent and manage vascular disease - heart, stroke, kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.

Funding for an integrated health check has also been backed by the Australian Greens. Alliance members, including the National Heart Foundation, Stroke Foundation, Diabetes Australia, Kidney Health Australia and Cancer Council Australia, have long championed integrated health checks to stem the tide of Australia’s chronic disease burden.

A new study from Deakin University has found that taking 500mg of vitamin C twice daily can help those with type 2 diabetes by lowering elevated blood sugar levels across the day and minimising spikes in blood sugar after meals.

The randomised cross-over study, recently published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, also found vitamin C lowered blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes, suggesting benefits for heart health too.

Australian diabetes patients will have access to a new, Australian first device that works like an artificial pancreas.

Developed in consultation with patients and clinicians from around the world including St Vincent’s, the hybrid closed loop insulin pump system automatically adjusts to deliver people living with type 1 diabetes precise amounts of insulin when they need it – a function usually performed by the pancreas.

New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the gap between the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups continues to widen for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Rates of heart attack and stroke increased with socioeconomic disadvantage, as did the number of people living with diabetes or chronic kidney disease.

Parents and carers of 11,000 Australian children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes are likely to face more challenges than most as they begin the new school year.

“There are more than 1000 school age children who have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the past year, and for these students and their families, as well as those already living with type 1 diabetes, starting a new school or having new teachers can be overwhelming and challenging,” Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson said.

“It is critical that principals and school staff are equipped to support students with type 1 diabetes and that these children don’t experience discrimination or adverse impacts as a result of their condition."