Call for more screening for killer disease

AUSTRALIA could save $700 million a year in a simple preventable health measure aimed at reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes Australia says it should not take a heart attack, a stroke, blindness or a limb amputation for people to discover they have been living with type 2 diabetes for years.

But the national organisation says people often are only diagnosed with the condition after suffering complications, with the disease having gone undetected and untreated for up to seven years.

Diabetes Australia chief executive Prof Greg Johnson says international evidence has found that early detection and optimal treatment could save as much as $1415 per person per year.

“With an estimated 500,000 Australians having silent, undiagnosed type 2 dia- betes, that could translate to savings of more than $700 million for the Australian health system each year,” he said.

Diabetes Australia is launching a fresh bid to overcome the condition, pushing for a national, comprehensive early detection program across the nation.

It is calling on emergency rooms and GP clinics to conduct more routine screening, with the Commonwealth and state governments leading the way through policy and funding.

The merits of routine screening already have been shown through an innovative program run at some western Sydney hospitals and GP clinics, Prof Johnson said.

Through the program, about 48,000 patients who checked into emergency departments at Blacktown and Mt Druitt Hospitals, and had blood tests done, were additionally screened for the disease.

Of those, 17 per cent were deemed “likely” to have type 2 diabetes, with another 30 per cent found to be at “high-risk”.

Blacktown Hospital’s Dr Glen Maberly said the results from the GP checks for type 2 diabetes were alarming.

“Of the nearly 6000 people tested, 26 per cent were found to have pre-diabetes, while 17 per cent were likely to have type 2 diabetes,” Dr Maberly said.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said the federal government was determined to tackle chronic conditions such as diabetes and was funding several measures including a pharmacy-based type 2 diabetes screening trial, and allocating $600,000 in its latest budget to increasing awareness.