Working towards a National Diabetes Strategy
The federal government’s commitment to a National Diabetes Strategy has been welcomed.
AML Alliance chair, Dr Arn Sprogis, said Medicare Locals are already putting in the valuable ground work by identifying through their community needs assessments the prevalence of diabetes.
“By mapping out a better understanding of where the prevalence is high or low, Medicare Locals – together with relevant health services including general practices, diabetes clinics and other allied health services – are now working at enabling patients to selfmanage as well as get access to the right services in a timely way,” Dr Sprogis said.
“It’s this work that will make the difference about tailoring and targeting the current spending in this area to ensure that the right programs are being delivered to the right people at the right time,” he said.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), about 13% of potentially avoidable hospitalisations are due to diabetes complications.
In 2010, the AIHW reported that diabetes would soon become the number one disease burden when mortality (deaths) and morbidity (ongoing years of life lived with complications) were combined.
“By investing in better self management programs and supports, and by stepping up the diabetes workforce to create more multidisciplinary teams (which is fundamental to supporting the growing number of people with diabetes), we can better manage diabetes and prevent complications at the community level and importantly closer to home for many people,” he said.
