Geelong Advertiser

Labor vows $50m to beat diabetes

-

LABOR will spend $50 million to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes if it wins the next federal election.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Clinical Research Network will use the money to boost the number of clinical trials as it searches for new treatments.

“It will allow Australian patients with type 1 to access clinical trials. It will allow for groundbrea­king research conducted in the lab to be translated in a beneficial affordable treatment in the future,” JDRF head of research Dorota Pawlak said yesterday.

Funding for the network is due to expire in June, a month after the election due date, but Labor’s plan extends money to JDRF’s research arm until 2024.

“Australian scientists and researcher­s punch above their weight. We do better at medical research when they get the help they need,” Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said.

More than 120,000 Australian­s have type 1 diabetes, which can be deadly or prompt complicati­ons including kidney failure, nerve damage, heart disease, stroke and blindness.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia