Brisbane woman Rachelle Swan hopes a new government subsidy for diabetes treatment technology will remove the stigma around the disease.
Australians living with type 1 diabetes have access to more affordable Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) technology from today due to a government subsidy.
This subsidy will save eligible individuals more than $2,000 each year.
Previously, only those with eligible concession cards, children and young people aged 21 years and under, and women who were actively planning a pregnancy or pregnant, were able to access fully subsidised glucose monitoring technology.
Newly eligible participants will now be required to pay just $32.50 per month to access the technology.
People living with type 1 diabetes are required to regularly check their glucose levels to ensure they are not too high nor too low.
This is traditionally done through painful fingerpicks multiple times a day to obtain a glucose reading.
Wear 'CGMs with pride'
Ms Swan was 11 when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and recalled feeling "like I was the only person with it".
"I grew up in Townsville and it was almost taboo. I didn't talk about it," the 50-year-old Milton resident said.
"My close friends knew but I wouldn't do a test at my desk. I would go to toilets.
"And at that time I didn't have good control of my diabetes.
"With these [CGM] devices, parents can track their kids' sugar levels.
For the past seven years, Ms Swan has been paying the full cost of a FreeStyle Libre 2 CGM, which costs $92.50 per fortnight, plus postage.
"I didn't do it every fortnight. I tried to do it monthly, or every six weeks," she said.
"It was great not having to get your meter out, clean your finger, prick your finger.
"In a meeting, if I was feeling a bit low, or if I had a headache [or] I might be high, I'd just swipe my phone over [the monitor patch] and I could just quietly have some glucose if I was having a hypo.
"It certainly frees up a bit of time. Sometimes you get a little slack, but the CGM is great, especially with the alarm."
Despite not quite being able to fathom just how the cost savings would impact her life, Ms Swan advised those with type 1 diabetes not to be afraid of talking about the condition.
She also added they shouldn't "listen to people's comments and advice".
"Work with it, not against it. There's nothing you can do about this. And with the CGM devices, wear them with pride."
A 'step up' in managing diabetes
CGMs can upload data to the cloud, making information available for healthcare professionals and family.
Brisbane-based endocrinologist Grant Cracknell was relieved the subsidy was finally in place.
He said while the financial assistance was "better late than never", he wanted it available much earlier.
"This technology has been around for a couple of years, and myself and my colleagues have been working hard to encourage government to subside CGMs," Dr Cracknell said.
"I think it's going to be a big step up in helping people manage their diabetes because there will no longer be a financial divider in those who get good control of their glucose and those who don't."
Dr Cracknell said typical symptoms of poorly managed diabetes included damage to eyes and loss of vision, kidney damage leading to dialysis, and the loss of sensation in feet.
He hoped the new subsidy could create more opportunities for more and newer diabetes management technology to be made available.
Dr Cracknell also said while CGMs could be used by those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the latter condition was easer to manage because the pancreas was still producing some insulin.
The subsidy did not apply to those with type 2 diabetes and Dr Cracknell agreed the cost of subsidising the technology for those people too would be "prohibitive".
But he described CGMs and their availability as "almost as significant as the discovery of insulin" for treating diabetes, which coincidentally happened exactly 100 years ago.
There are 26,180 people living with type 1 diabetes in Queensland.
Information on how to access the National Diabetes Services Scheme CGM subsidy can be found here from July 1.
