Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Does the government intend to assist individuals and families managing type 1 diabetes by subsidising continuous glucose monitoring devices, particularly for children?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my neighbour and friend the member for Mallee for this important question. He has written to me twice on the subject of continuous glucose monitoring, as have many other members in this House and in the other place. This is an issue of huge importance to families and individuals managing type 1 diabetes, and there are some 120,000 in Australia today. Continuous glucose monitoring effectively gives real-time monitoring of blood glucose levels—quite different from the continual finger prick, which, in a small child, is a very difficult and very stressful task for a parent to perform, particularly as it is during the night. It is particularly difficult for parents of young children who themselves need to be educated about a disease that they cannot yet understand. We have a strong record when it comes to supporting people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The government subsidies products under the National Diabetes Services Scheme up to the value of $180 million a year, and we provide subsidies under an insulin pump program up to about $1½ million a year.

As would any health minister when presented with the stories, the evidence and, as I have, the understanding of type 1 diabetes, my question, of course, to my department is: 'What can we do to help? What can we do to do more?' I understand that there is no formal way of measuring cost-effectiveness of new technologies to come onto the National Diabetes Services Scheme, and we need to be able to demonstrate that efficacy as well so that perhaps we can encourage the companies that the manufacture these devices to do some more testing to build that evidence base so that we can go forward with confidence and know who we can support and how soon. So I am very committed to doing this and I want to reassure the families and the patients who are listening that we will do what we can. Thank you.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.