National Diabetes groups call for action on government diabetes strategy

The Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA) and the Australian Diabetes Society (ADS) commend the government on the development of the National Diabetes Strategy and its release in November last year.

We now call on the Federal Government to develop an implementation plan to turn the National Diabetes Strategy into action and improve the outcomes for 1.7 million Australians.

Diabetes has broad impacts on the entire Australian community.

For every person diagnosed with diabetes there is usually a family member or carer who also ‘lives with diabetes’ every day in a support role. Moderate estimates put this at 2.4 million Australians.

The Australian National Diabetes Strategy 2016-2020 is an important document that sets out a number of goals and potential areas for action to address the outcomes for people with diabetes.

It’s now time to turn the strategy into action.

Tracy Aylen, President of the ADEA said, ‘there is tremendous goodwill and support from health professionals around the country to turn the strategy into action, but we must work closely with governments and have dedicated funding to allow this to happen.’

Sof Andrikopoulos, President of the ADS said, ‘The ADS commends the government and we look forward to working together in implementing the actions outlined in the National Diabetes Strategy to improve the lives of Australians living with diabetes.’

Statistics show:

• One person every five minutes develops diabetes (280 Australians a day).
• One person every five minutes develops diabetes (280 Australians a day).
• An estimated 1 million people aged 2 or over with diagnosed diabetes in Australia.
• For every 4 adults with diagnosed diabetes, there is estimated to be 1 with undiagnosed diabetes (ABS 2013).
• Around 85% have type 2 diabetes and 12% have type 1 diabetes (ABS 2013).
• Gestational diabetes affects about 1 in 20 pregnancies each year.

As the numbers of people with diabetes increase, so do the healthcare costs.The total annual cost for Australians with type 2 diabetes is up to $6 billion including healthcare costs, the cost of carers and Commonwealth government subsidies. For type 1 diabetes, the total annual cost is $570 million.

The National Diabetes Strategy has the potential to change these statistics over time, improving clinical and social outcomes for all Australian with diabetes.The ADEA and ADS call on Health Minister Sussan Ley to meet with them to engage in constructive dialogue that supports

The ADEA and ADS call on Health Minister Sussan Ley to meet with them to engage in constructive dialogue that supports implementation of the strategy.

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Media contact: Vy Le | vy.le@adea.com.au | 02 6173 1009 | 0401 066 554

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