JDRF: Level 4, 80-84 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 Tel 02 9966 0400 Fax 02 9966 0172 WWW www.jdrf.org.au
Media Release
Embargo until
1 am Sunday 7 Feb 2010
Health Minister dramatically increases subsidy
to help children with type 1 diabetes
The Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, has today announced a boost to the Type 1
Diabetes Insulin Pump Program, with a dramatically increased government subsidy of up to 80% of the cost
of an insulin pump.
The Type 1 Diabetes Insulin Pump Program was launched in 2008 and provides a means-tested subsidy
towards the purchase of an insulin pump
for children under 18. In Australia insulin pumps can cost up to
$8,000, making it a medically desirable but unaffordable option for many without private health insurance.
It was the first time the Australian government had provided subsidies for this important technology.
Children under 18 with type 1 diabetes will now be eligible, on the recommendation of a health professional,
for a significantly increased
subsidy
of up to 80% of the cost of an insulin pump, up to a maximum of
$6,400. The subsidy will be means-tested and based on a sliding scale reflecting family income.
This program will potentially impact around 500
Australian children with type 1 diabetes who would benefit
from moving from multiple daily insulin injections of insulin pump therapy.
Research shows that insulin pumps can help in the management of type 1 diabetes
by minimising the
dangerous fluctuations in blood glucose levels that lead to long-term health complications such as
blindness, heart disease, kidney failure, limb amputation or coma.
Insulin pumps also alleviate the intrusive daily regime of diet management and insulin injections.
JDRF CEO Mike Wilson said increased access to insulin pumps had the potential to dramatically change
many hundreds of lives.
“Children with type 1 diabetes face a huge strain juggling the management diabetes with the demands of
daily life. We know that insulin pumps can make this daily and lifesaving management much easier.”
“More importantly, pumps are the best way for many patients to improve their chances of a healthy future,
making this subsidy a win-win for people with type 1 diabetes and Australia’s health system.”
The Type 1 Diabetes Insulin Pump Program is a collaboration
between the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation and the Department of Health and Ageing.
For more information for patients about the Type 1 Diabetes Insulin Pump Program, please contact
Chanelle Stowers on 02 9966 0400 ext 223 or cstowers@jdrf.org.au.
ENDS
Interviews available: JDRF CEO, Mike Wilson, and children with type 1 diabetes around Australia.
Media contact Lyndal Howison - 0411 110 717
Type 1 Diabetes – the facts
There are 140,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes and with five new cases every day, Australia has one of the highest rates in the world. The number of Australian
children being diagnosed with this disease is increasing by 3% every year. Typically striking young people, type 1 diabetes destroys the ability to produce insulin, which is
vital for life. It requires an essential daily regime of multiple injections or continuous infusion of insulin through a pump, as well as 6 – 8 finger-prick blood tests. Type 1
diabetes is associated with a significantly increased risk of serious health complications. An autoimmune disease, type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by a complex
mixture of genetic and environmental factors but not by an unhealthy diet or obesity. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is the world’s largest not-for-profit
supporter of diabetes research and has invested over US$1.3 billion since inception in 1970. The mission of JDRF is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its
complications through the support of research.
NEWS 
