Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

The Liberal-National government provides considerable support to people of all ages with diabetes, including the subsidy of essential medicines like insulin through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and of diabetes-related products through the National Diabetes Services Scheme. Expenditure on PBS medicines for the treatment of diabetes was $545 million in 2016-17 and expenditure on products for the management of diabetes supplied through the NDSS was over $200 million in 2017-18. In addition, the government is investing $54 million from 2016 to 2020-21 to provide fully subsidised continuous glucose-monitoring products to eligible children and young people under 21 years of age living with type 1 diabetes. The Department of Health is undertaking an evaluation of the FreeStyle Libre product to consider its suitability for subsidisation through the NDSS, and the government is awaiting the outcome.

Question agreed to.