Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that diabetes is a serious health concern with an estimated 382 million people worldwide living with diabetes;

(2) recognises that:

(a) 8 per cent of Australians are living with diabetes;

(b) by 2035, 14 per cent of Australians will be living with diabetes; and

(c) incidences of diabetes are three to four times higher in Indigenous communities;

(3) acknowledges that the World Diabetes Congress was:

(a) held in Melbourne, from 2 to 6 December 2013;

(b) attended by 50 international parliamentarians; and

(c) successful in passing the Melbourne Declaration and appointing International Parliamentary Champions for Diabetes;

(4) recognises that the International Parliamentary Champions for Diabetes will:

(a) exchange policy views and practical ideas for prevention and management of diabetes;

(b) encourage all governments to acknowledge that diabetes is a national health priority that requires a comprehensive action plan leading to action; and

(c) aim to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes, stop discrimination towards people with diabetes and prevent development of Type 2 diabetes;

(5) calls on the Government, individuals, families, communities, health care services and industry, to take urgent action to:

(a) ensure prevention of diabetes;

(b) improve early diagnosis of diabetes;

(c) support ongoing research into treatment and medications for diabetes; and

(d) effectively manage and treat diabetes; and

(6) acknowledges the Government's contribution:

(a) with an expert Advisory Group to consider available evidence and consult with a wide range of stakeholders to inform the development of the National Diabetes Strategy;

(b) to ongoing research into a cure for Type 1 diabetes with a $35 million contribution into the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Clinical Research Network; and

(c) in providing an additional $1.4 million for the Diabetes Insulin Pump Programme.

Diabetes mellitus currently represents one of the most challenging public health problems of the 21st century. There are over 1.5 million Australians with diabetes, including those who are undiagnosed. Diabetes is a chronic condition marked by high levels of glucose in the blood and can be caused by: the inability to produce insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood glucose levels; by the body not being able to use insulin effectively; or by a combination of the two. Over time high blood glucose levels are associated with complications such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, eye disease and neuropathy. Diabetes in its various forms places a significant burden on individuals and on their families as well as on the health system. The most common forms of diabetes are type I, type II and gestational diabetes. Even within each type of diabetes there are differences between individuals in what causes diabetes and in the course of the disease.

While lifestyle factors play an important role in preventing type II diabetes and in managing existing diabetes, the mechanisms are complex and not completely understood. Genetic factors and environmental influences are also important, particularly during gestation and early childhood. A major goal of diabetes management is preventing progression to complications. Depending on the nature of each individual's condition, diabetes may be managed with insulin injections, oral medication and/or diet and exercise.

When I look at the data for my own electorate of Hasluck, I see some very interesting statistical comparisons. The total number of Australians who have registered as having diabetes is 1,093,125. In the seat of Hasluck the number is 8,070. If we look at the number per hundred thousand, we see that 4,725 have registered Australia-wide compared to 4,951 in my electorate—slightly higher than the Australian average. In my electorate, 90.1 per cent have type II diabetes compared to the Australian average of 86.3 per cent. For type I, it is 7.5 per cent compared to the Australian average of 10.9 per cent. For gestational, we are slightly better off, at 1.8 per cent, compared to the Australian figure of 2.3 per cent.

The International Diabetes Federation estimates that in 2013 there were 382 million people worldwide living with diabetes. In 2011 to 2012, based on results from biomedical tests among Australian adults 18 years and over, diabetes prevalence was five per cent. This comprised just over four per cent with known diabetes and around one per cent of adults newly diagnosed with diabetes. This equates to about 999,000 of Australians living with diabetes in that period from 2011 to 2012. For the same period, it was estimated that an additional 3.1 per cent of Australian adults aged 18 and over had impaired fasting-glucose levels, indicating they were at high risk of developing type II diabetes. This means that, overall, around eight per cent of Australians either had diabetes or were at risk of developing it.

Another study, using different methodology with additional testing, AusDiab 2,000, estimated that 16.3 per cent of Australian adults aged 25 and over had pre-diabetes prevalence, based on self-reports from the Australian Health Survey, and this has doubled between 1989 and 1990, and 2004 to 2005. From 2007 to 2008 to the latest data from 2011 to 2012, the rate of self-reported known diabetes has been stable at around four per cent.

Type I diabetes, which commonly emerges in childhood, is an autoimmune disease and accounts for one in every 10 cases of diabetes. Gestational diabetes mellitus is estimated to affect women in more than five per cent of Australian pregnancies each year and is related to the complex interplay of hormones during pregnancy. More than eight in every 10 cases of diabetes is type II diabetes, which may be prevented or delayed through adequate physical activity, adhering to an appropriate diet and maintaining a healthy weight. Increasing age is also a risk factor.

Diabetes, particularly type II, is three to four times more common in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, with rates of hospitalisation of diabetes being four times higher for Indigenous Australians than for the general population. In 2011, diabetes was the second-leading underlying cause of death in Indigenous Australians. The rate of death from diabetes in Indigenous populations was over six times the rate than for non-Indigenous Australians.

In conjunction with the World Diabetes Congress, international parliamentarians held a Parliamentary Champions the Diabetes Forum and established the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Global Network, at which Minister Dutton gave the keynote address. I was in attendance and had the privilege of meeting parliamentarians from across the globe who had a strong interest in reducing the levels and impact of diabetes within their communities. The network is committed to working across parliaments to ensure diabetes is high on the political agenda in every country. They want to see more preventative work and to ensure that the early diagnosis, management and access to adequate care, treatment and medicines is available for all those living with diabetes.

The Hon. Judi Moylan established Australia's federal Parliamentary Diabetes Support Group in 2000 and served as the chair of this group until her retirement in 2013. She is the global coordinator of the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Global Network. The forum endorsed the Melbourne Declaration on Diabetes, which recognises that the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Global Network will exchange policy views and practical ideas for prevention and management of diabetes, encourage all governments to acknowledge that diabetes is a national health priority that requires a comprehensive action plan leading to action, and aims to improve health outcomes for people with diabetes, stop discrimination towards people with diabetes and prevent the development of type II diabetes.

The coalition government has committed to developing a new national diabetes strategy to inform how existing resources can be better coordinated and targeted across all levels of government and to prioritise the national response in existing resources, through an emphasis on prevention, early diagnosis, intervention, management and treatment, including the role of primary care. The government has important roles in maintaining access to affordable high-quality devices, medicines and services to support people with diabetes in self-management and treatment. The Australian government provides support to people with diabetes through the National Diabetes Service Scheme, NDSS; the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, PBS; the insulin pump program, IPP; and Medicare. The government also contributes to supporting research into the causes, effects, treatments, impacts and complications of diabetes.

Developing a new national diabetes strategy provides a valuable opportunity to take stock of approaches to diabetes services and care, consider the role of governments and other stakeholders, look at where efforts and investments are currently being made and how well these match needs and then develop a vision for where we want to be in terms of prevention, detection, management and research efforts. Governments cannot solve the problems alone but need to act did not collaboration with individuals, families, communities, healthcare services and industry.

The government has established an advisory group to consider the evidence and consult with a wide range of stakeholders to inform the development of the national diabetes strategy. The first meeting was held on 11 February 2014 and was addressed by the Minister for Health, Peter Dutton. The government has recently announced an election commitment to provide $35 million to support research into a cure for type 1 diabetes through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation clinical research network and $1.4 million for subsidies for an additional 136 children on the Type 1 Diabetes Insulin Pump Program administered by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

As chair of the group which the Hon. Judi Moylan led previously I will continue the work that she was a strong advocate for. I will certainly be linking with state and territory parliaments to enjoin other parliamentarians within our jurisdictions to focus on some key initiatives and issues that will make a difference for the future.

See this speech in context