John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Shortland for her motion recognising the devastating impact that juvenile diabetes has on our society. I welcome the 100 young Australians suffering from this chronic disease who will be visiting this place later in the week as part of the Kids in the House program. This motion draws on the great work performed by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which runs the Promise to Remember Me campaign to start a conversation with members of parliament about type 1 diabetes and the importance of supporting those suffering from type 1 diabetes and to aid research. JDRF is the leading not-for-profit funder of type 1 diabetes research. Worldwide they have invested over $1.6 billion in research since 1970, including more than $100 million in Australian research. JDRF estimates there are 122,300 Australians suffering from type 1 diabetes.

This motion follows our recent recognition of World Diabetes Day on 14 November, which is an official United Nations world day. This day is recognised worldwide every year and brings together millions of people in over 160 countries to raise awareness of the challenges of diabetes. The theme of this year's World Diabetes Day campaign was: 'Diabetes education and prevention'. In my electorate of Bennelong we are fortunate to have several large pharmaceutical and medical device companies that create jobs, invest in research and development, and work towards a brighter future for those suffering chronic disease like diabetes.

As I did last year, I attended the World Diabetes Day event at Eli Lilly headquarters in West Ryde. This event invited all staff to join in a celebration of their great work and to hear from a Diabetes Australia representative about how the personalised solutions they provide can make a difference in the daily lives of those affected by this disease, particularly those suffering from juvenile diabetes. This includes working with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to offer the best range of support and advice for diabetes patients. This World Diabetes Day event was also a call for action on our fastest-growing chronic disease. There are 1.15 million Australians who have been officially diagnosed with diabetes. Perhaps even more alarming is that the New South Wales diabetes population is approximately 410,000, which is larger than the population of our nation's capital. I told those assembled at this event that, as diabetes becomes a national health priority, we need to take action and make changes in our lives to protect our health and the health of our children.

With type 2 diabetes representing the most common form of preventable illness, it is vital that we as community leaders promote the benefits of healthy living and a range of support services available to people suffering from diabetes. As chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Medicines, I have been a strong advocate in this place for sufferers of a wide range of diseases, both generic and preventable. The growth of type 2 diabetes warns us of a frightening future when the cause of deaths in our society is linked to the underlying illness. Type II diabetes has become the biggest killer in Australia. There is no greater challenge in health than to effect a combination of prevention and treatment of this disease. We should acknowledge the genuine concern for outcomes by the pharmaceutical industry at large on the issue of prevention, which they raise with me time and again as an area of great concern. Essentially, in the time that we will see the middle class of Asia grow from 500 million to 3.5 billion, this middle-class disease will become the greatest health challenge for our region. It is our duty as policymakers to meet this challenge.

I again thank the member for Shortland for raising this motion and making sure that we in this place promise to remember those suffering from juvenile diabetes. I also applaud the work of companies like Eli Lilly Australia and their managing director, Chris Miskel, who so eloquently and passionately advocate treatments and actions to treat both types of this disease.

See this speech in context