Australian diabetes funding is long overdue

Diabetes news indicated widespread support for the Australian Government pledge to put over 400 million dollars into diabetes care . However, some charities say that the diabetes funding is ‘well overdue.’
Diabetes is understood to be particularly serious amongst aboriginal Australians, and the Close the Gap campaign for indigenous health welcomed the Rudd Government diabetes initiative. Indigenous people are thought to be three times more likely to develop diabetes compared to the rest of the population.
Tom Calma of Close the Gap reportedly commented: “It’s long overdue, so this initiative is really building on what’s happened in the past but to make a difference. We need to really invest significantly into chronic disease areas such as diabetes and just by maintaining the status quo is not going to make a difference. So it’s down to looking at preventative health, primary health care [and] access to some secondary health care like dialysis machines.”