During a visit to the Diabetes Department at Mater Dei Hospital, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne announced that the free Continuous Glucose Monitoring service will be extended to people up to 23 years of age who they have Type 1 Diabetes.
This free project started as a pilot project about a year and a half ago where children and young people under the age of 16 were offered a Continuous Glucose Monitoring system to monitor their blood sugar levels. blood continuously, and they, together with their parents, are informed if there is any problem in sugar.
The Deputy Prime Minister explained that the first results show that the system is a success, not only because it reduces inconvenience and gives peace of mind, but also because the blood results show that the rates of complications in these children should be decreasing by approximately 80%.
During the past year, the age of people eligible for this free system continued to increase, up to 21 years, and now it has been extended for another two years up to 23 years. In the coming months this scheme will continue to be extended so that eventually, all patients with Type 1 diabetes will be covered and enjoy this system free of charge.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Chris Fearne said that diabetes occurs mostly in the elderly, but those who have Type 1 diabetes can catch them from a young age, so much so that there even children with diabetes. The younger you get diabetes, the more important it is to keep your blood sugar under control because otherwise serious complications can develop over the years.
“In the last months we have continued to extend this service and during the coming months we will continue to extend it so that all patients with Type 1 diabetes get this service free of charge in order to keep the rate of complications low in -our patients. This is a clear example of how technology in the field of health is making the lives of our patients much better”, said the minister for health.
Photos (ODPM-MFH)
