Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This motion was originally drafted to try and coincide with international diabetes day and to recognise the landmark decision that was made by the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a resolution making 14 November World Diabetes Day. Since long before the landmark UN resolution to recognise diabetes with its own international day on 14 November, Australian governments have ranked diabetes as a national health priority. Why do they do this? Because the impact of chronic illness is the new frontier for governments, which, without a vigorous management plan, will struggle to stem the chronic illness pandemic that is sweeping the globe.

Few chronic conditions are more challenging than diabetes. Diabetes is a silent killer: it creeps up on people. Often by the time it is diagnosed incalculable harm has already been done, and once diagnosed diabetes involves a lifetime of complex and special care. Left untreated, diabetes is the leading cause of heart disease, kidney failure and stroke, and each year worldwide every 30 seconds someone has a limb amputated due to diabetes and 2.8 million people die from diabetes related illnesses somewhere in the globe.

In many cases diabetes is preventable and early diagnosis and treatment of its complications can reduce the mortality rate. Diabetes Australia, whose theme is turning diabetes around, has and continues to have a pivotal role in assisting Australian governments to find ways to prevent, treat and manage diabetes and is strongly supportive of joining with the UN in highlighting the problem of diabetes in the community on international diabetes day as well as every day of every year. Diabetes Australia is always at the cutting edge in delivering services to people with diabetes and it manages the National Diabetes Service Scheme, the NDSS. This scheme is a world first in terms of subsidising diabetic products for people living with diabetes, ensuring effective and affordable treatment options.

Diabetes Australia has made a long and distinguished contribution to the health of the nation, always searching for ways to improve health outcomes for those with diabetes. Diabetes Australia today and each day continues to build on all that it has done in the past. To highlight World Diabetes Day, Diabetes Australia joined with Microsoft in using groundbreaking technology to provide population data about Australians diagnosed with diabetes. Almost a million Australians live with diabetes, and 715,000 of them have type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes used to be a disease of the aged but today we see a disturbing trend of it being diagnosed in children. In fact, 350 children aged to the age of 15 live today with type 2 diabetes. This is mainly but not exclusively a lifestyle disease brought on by overeating, poor quality diet and lack of activity and exercise.

Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. That is why I enthusiastically joined with my colleagues the Hon. Dick Adams, member for Lyons, Senator Barnett, the member for Isaacs, the member for Moore and all the colleagues in this place who support the Parliamentary Diabetes Support Group in their work to highlight the problem of diabetes in the community.

I would also like to pay tribute to the work of Professor Martin Silink, who is President of the International Diabetes Federation. His term comes to an end shortly. I think we can be very proud that he was the first Australian elected to this prestigious international body and has done an extraordinary job in highlighting worldwide the difficulties that our communities face in managing diabetes.

It is nice to see the member for Lyons take the chair, and I once again acknowledge the work that he does in the Parliamentary Diabetes Support Group to work across parties, to make sure that we have the best practice medicine against the scourge of diabetes in this country.

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