Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1)

notes that:

(a)

14 November 2010 is United Nations World Diabetes Day, with this year’s theme being diabetes education and prevention;

(b)

the symbol for World Diabetes Day is a blue ring which symbolises:

(i)

life;

(ii)

health;

(iii)

the sky that connects all nations; and

(iv)

the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes pandemic; and

(c)

diabetes is Australia’s fastest growing chronic disease with up to 3.3 million people estimated to have diabetes or pre-diabetes, and one person in Australia diagnosed every seven minutes;

(2)

recognises that:

(a)

diabetes is a complex and chronic disease which affects the entire body and often lasts a lifetime;

(b)

Type 2 Diabetes is the most common form of diabetes accounting for 85-90 per cent of all cases and costs the economy up to $3 billion dollars every year;

(c)

a person with Type 2 Diabetes and no complications costs the community $9625 a year and a person with Type 2 Diabetes who has complications costs the community $15 850 per year; and

(d)

there is currently no cure for diabetes, but up to 60 per cent of cases of Type 2 Diabetes are preventable; and

(3)

supports:

(a)

diabetes awareness and education campaigns;

(b)

healthy lifestyles and other preventative measures; and

(c)

research for a cure.

I thank the House for the opportunity to bring this important event to the attention of the House and to seek its support, which I am sure everyone will give, for diabetes education, prevention and research. I would also like to acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues who are here to speak on the motion, but, unfortunately, I think time will not allow for that. They are the member for Pearce, who has a long history of being involved in the Parliamentary Friendship Group, the member for Shortland and the member for Riverina.

World Diabetes Day is held every year on 14 November to raise awareness about diabetes globally, with this year’s theme being diabetes prevention and education. More than 250 million people worldwide have diabetes, including 3.3 million in Australia who are estimated to have diabetes or pre-diabetes. In Australia, diabetes is also the fastest growing chronic disease, with one person diagnosed every seven minutes. The symbol for World Diabetes Day is a blue ring, which symbolises life, health, the sky that unites all nations, and the unity of the global diabetes community in responding to the global pandemic. Over the weekend, as World Diabetes Day took place all around the world, buildings were lit in blue as part of the day’s Monument Challenge, which helps to raise awareness for the cause. Ten significant buildings in Australia took part, including Old Parliament House, the National Library, the National Gallery and Black Mountain Tower as well as the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in my home state of South Australia.

I know that many members of this place have been active in their local communities in supporting diabetes education and research, including many of us who take part each year in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes. I had the honour of officially opening this year’s JDRF Walk to Cure in my electorate at Glenelg. There I met with many of the constituents who I have gotten to know over the years who have diabetes themselves or who have a family member with the illness. The event was a six-kilometre walk from Wigley Reserve at Glenelg along the beachfront to Somerton Surf Life Saving Club and return. It was interesting whilst we were walking to see young children, some as young as four years old, stopping along the way to prick their fingers to check their blood glucose levels while they were walking. If their sugar levels were low they would munch on a chocolate as others kept on walking. It was really interesting. It describes the illness and the constant approach that someone has to take to it. In particular, I would like to mention Emma Russell from my electorate. She is an inspiring young person who is a youth ambassador for JDRF and who came to Canberra this year for the annual Kids in the House function. I have had the privilege of meeting Emma as a youth ambassador on several occasions, both in my electorate and here at Parliament House. She is an excellent advocate for the importance of diabetes education.

Many people are unaware that diabetes is a very complex and chronic disease which affects the whole body and often lasts a person’s lifetime. It comes in two forms: type 1, which is not preventable and for which there is no known cause, and type 2, which is much more common and is preventable in around 60 per cent of cases. Type 1 diabetes, which accounts for about 10 per cent of cases, occurs when the pancreas stops making insulin, the hormone which helps convert glucose into energy. Without insulin the body burns fat instead of sugar and this process releases dangerous toxins into the blood. To avoid this, type 1 diabetics have to inject themselves with insulin, in some cases up to four or five times a day. Many people who have type 1 diabetes get it when they are young and it stays with them for life, which is why supporting research for a cure is so important.

I have a very personal connection to type 1 diabetes: my father has had it for over 45 years. He injects himself several times a day and often says that if he did not have it, he would be dead because he would not have had the wake-up call to change his diet and start exercising 45 years ago, and would probably have suffered from some other kind of disease as a result. So there are positives to it. He is 82 years old and his routine to keep himself fit and healthy is to walk every day for an hour and to ride his bicycle for up to 16 kilometres two to three times a week. He has been living with diabetes, and injecting himself, for 45 years. He is a living example of how someone who has the right education and support can lead a full and active life and not be held back by having type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is somewhat different. It is much more common than type 1, accounting for up to 90 per cent of all cases in Australia. Type 2 diabetes is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, but there are strong links between being overweight and being at risk of type 2 diabetes. That means that simply maintaining a healthy weight and doing regular physical activity can go a long way to preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes in the first place. A simple check can tell you if you are overweight—having a waist circumference of more than 80cm for women or 94cm for men is an indicator. It is important to tackle the issue of type 2 diabetes because of the high social and economic cost on the community and the fact that, unlike type 1 diabetes, it is largely preventable.

Type 2 diabetes costs the Australian economy around $3 billion per year. That is an enormous price to pay in healthcare and productivity costs as well as time and care given by family members—and, of course, the person who suffers the most is the person with diabetes. In outright dollar figures, it has been estimated that a person with type 2 diabetes and no complications could cost taxpayers up to $9,625 every year, while a person with complications could cost in the vicinity of $15,850. These are startling statistics and highlight the real need for events like the one that took place on the weekend, World Diabetes Day, which raise awareness of the illness and of the need to do all we can to prevent diabetes through living a healthy lifestyle and, most importantly, trying to get the message out about why prevention and education is so important.

I know that many members of this place have been longstanding supporters of diabetes organisations, and I would particularly like to congratulate the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Diabetes, which has held several successful events in recent years to help raise awareness. As I said earlier, the members for Pearce, Shortland and Riverina, who were to speak on this motion, have been active. I thank all members for their actions and hope that we can all continue to play a role in this place in getting that very important message out and ensuring that we do all we can to support people with diabetes right around Australia into the future, whether that be by simply stocking educational material in our electorate offices or by participating in related events.

Debate interrupted.