Diabetes Australia and leading researchers are in Parliament this week calling for an emergency injection of funding into vital diabetes research.

Acting Diabetes Australia Group CEO, Taryn Black, said this is a critical time for Australian diabetes research as National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding has declined by 35% over the past decade while the number of people living with diabetes has increased by 32%.

“Diabetes Australia and our partners have called on the government to invest $10 million in emergency research funding in this year’s Federal Budget to help us keep the doors open in research labs across the country,” Ms Black said.

“Research creates hope, and that’s essential for a person living with diabetes.

“Without diabetes research, insulin would not have been discovered and we would not have seen the huge advances in treatments and technologies like continuous glucose monitoring that have emerged in recent decades and changed people’s lives.

“Diabetes Australia is steadfast in our commitment to research which will ultimately improve the lives of people living with, and at risk of, diabetes.

“Over the past 10 years, Diabetes Australia has invested more than $40 million in supporting nearly 450 critical research initiatives across all types of diabetes.

“We need the government to prioritise diabetes research too because research holds the key to arresting the diabetes epidemic which has grown into a global killer,” Ms Black said.

Currently, around 2 million Australians are living with diabetes and that number is projected to reach 3.6 million by 2050.

Pre-budget submissions made to the Federal Government by Diabetes Australia, Australian Diabetes Society and Australian Diabetes Educators Association show that every year, diabetes costs the Australian health care system $3.4 billion and is responsible for 11% of hospitalisations.

“We have genuine concerns that some critical areas of research will not be able to continue beyond the next 12 months,” Ms Black said.  

“This is research that is identifying potentially ground-breaking discoveries into one of Australia’s major health priorities.”

A/Professor Sof Andrikopoulos, President of Australian Diabetes Society, said the funding decline had brought diabetes research to a dire state in Australia.

“Research is the only way we will be able to improve treatment for people living with diabetes and ultimately find a cure,” he said.

“Australian researchers are undertaking world-class studies into important areas like diabetic ketoacidosis, eye disease and type 1 screening programs for children, to name just a few.

“We must continue to support this work.

“It also makes financial sense, with economic analysis showing medical research delivers a return of almost $4 for every dollar invested.

“The diabetes community anticipates that the return on investment for diabetes research could be even higher because it generates better treatments that ultimately reduce the impact of serious complications on the health care system,” he said.  

In three pre-budget submissions, Diabetes Australia, along with ADS and ADEA, have also called for the Federal Budget to include:

• A Diabetes and Obesity Health Mission under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)
• Expanded access to continuous glucose monitoring for people with type 2 diabetes who use insulin
• A national diabetes kidney disease screening program
• A national diabetes prevention phone line
• An expansion and adaptation of the Diabetes in Schools program to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living with type 2 diabetes
• A funded Implementation Plan for the government’s National Diabetes Strategy
• MBS funding to support initiation of diabetes technology by a Credentialled Diabetes Educator (CDE)
• Funded CDE visits for people most at risk of diabetes-related complications
• Funded CDE visits for people with gestational diabetes mellitus both during and post-pregnancy.