Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday, 14 November, was World Diabetes Day. To mark the occasion, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or JDRF, has launched an online petition to support research into type 1 diabetes. While Australians continue to be diagnosed and suffer with this autoimmune disease, I will continue to speak about it and the government will continue to act. The government has heard the concerns and needs of Australians touched by diabetes. It has committed $872 million for health promotion and preventive health. This is the largest commitment of any Australian government.

The Commonwealth’s $805.5 million Indigenous Chronic Disease Package aims to improve the prevention, early detection and ongoing management of chronic diseases, including diabetes. In addition, the government funds the National Diabetes Services Scheme at an annual cost exceeding $126 million. Government expenditure on diabetes products supplied by the NDSS and expenditure on medicines for diabetes through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme exceed $400 million each year. In addition, the National Health and Medical Research Council invested more than $57 million in 2008 for diabetes research.

The government also supports the Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre, as a joint initiative of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the NHMRC, with the aim of developing an effective vaccine or preventive immunotherapy approach for type 1 diabetes. The government has maintained the commitment made in the 2005 budget to provide the JDRF with over $30 million to refine pancreatic islet cell transplantation as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. Among other things, too, the government has provided support through the subsidy of diabetes products and pharmaceuticals supplied by the National Diabetes Services Scheme, expenditure on medicines for diabetes through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme—approximately $400 million each year in total—and the subsidy of insulin pumps for people with type 1 diabetes under the age of 18. However, despite these measures and investments, there is no identifiable cause and there is no cure—yet. There are trials of a vaccine taking place in Australia, but more research is needed.

World Diabetes Day is aimed at raising awareness of both main forms of diabetes—type 1 and type 2—and it is important to understand the difference between them. While there are lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise associated with type 2 diabetes, type 1 cannot be cured by any amount of exercise and is not caused by obesity or eating the wrong foods. Type 2 diabetes can be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The risk of developing it is greatly increased when a genetic predisposition is combined with lifestyle factors, such as high blood pressure, overweight, poor diet and insufficient physical activity.

While type 2 diabetes, like type 1, has no actual cure, it can be managed, initially through a healthy diet and regular exercise. As the disease progresses, it may be necessary to supplement this regime with tablets to control blood glucose levels and the monitoring of these levels. Eventually, it may be necessary to start taking insulin to control glucose levels. As with type 1 diabetes, the earlier that type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, the better. The sooner a diagnosis is made, the sooner the sufferer can work to manage the disease and regain some control of their health. Type 2 diabetes usually affects older adults but, unfortunately, more and more younger children are being diagnosed.

Type 1 most often affects children and young adults and it can strike infants as young as eight weeks old. While it usually begins in childhood or early adult years, it can occur at any age. There are other myths about juvenile diabetes that should be debunked. Firstly, it cannot be cured by insulin. Insulin keeps people with type 1 alive, but it is not a cure and it does not ultimately prevent the serious complications that can arise from this disease. It is not caused by being overweight or eating too much sugar. It is not inherited, nor is it contagious and nor can it be outgrown.

Symptoms of juvenile diabetes can include extreme thirst, constant hunger, sudden weight loss, frequent urination, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, extreme tiredness and infections. Despite every effort to make life as normal as possible, those with juvenile diabetes and their families cannot lead a so-called normal life easily. For them, a normal day includes frequent finger-prick blood tests to monitor glucose levels and multiple insulin injections, unless they are on an insulin pump. Even so, no matter how much care they and their families take, attaining and maintaining the right blood glucose level is not always possible. Levels that are too high or too low can over time cause long-term health complications and even death. The complications of this disease can include eye disease leading to blindness, nerve damage leading to amputation, kidney disease leading to renal failure, and heart disease and stroke. On average, those with type 1 diabetes will have their life expectancy shortened by 15 years. Life with type 1 diabetes is tough to say the least. It is tough on those who suffer with it. It is tough on their families as they try to support their loved one and help keep them as healthy as possible, all the while battling their own fears.

I have previously outlined the experiences of some of the families I know personally who have been touched by juvenile diabetes. Their stories and their lives never cease to amaze, move and inspire me—the sleepless nights, the almost constant worry that when you do go to sleep you or your child may not wake up again if blood sugar levels dip too low. There is an enormous strain on the parents of those with type 1. It places pressure on families, relationships, finances, work life as well as home life, and mental as well as physical health. In fact, I am told depression and eating disorders are becoming increasingly common among sufferers, particularly the younger sufferers, as they battle the restrictions of their condition. I am sure those with type 1 could use all of the support we can give them, individually and/or through the work of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Last month, I again joined with parliamentary colleagues in the annual Walk to Cure Diabetes in Adelaide. Those who took part in our South Australian pollies team may have been of differing allegiances—we had members of parliament of all political persuasions and from all sides of politics—but they had a common goal: to raise the funds needed to beat this disease. In the past week, the first edition of the JDRF newsletter, Path to a Cure, lobbed into my inbox. Each month this newsletter aims to inform readers of the latest in type 1 diabetes research. It allows people to share their stories, post comments, offer feedback and be connected to the juvenile diabetes community. It plans to educate and inform. To join the subscribers list, all people have to do is log on to www.jdrf.org.au/newsletter. This online newsletter also contains a link to JDRF’s support petition, which aims to promote increased understanding and support for medical research into type 1 diabetes. This petition can be accessed through the www.jdrf.org.au home page.