CGM First Step in NZ
The New Zealand medicine-funding agency, Pharmac, announced in February it was seeking competitive commercial offers to fund Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) – the “first step” in the process.
Many campaigners inside and outside of Parliament are claiming that the process is taking far too long.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 250,000 people in New Zealand have diabetes and 5 to 10 percent of those people have type 1. While the condition can be managed, people with it need to test their blood sugar levels regularly throughout the day.
CGMs attach a sensor to the arm or stomach and provide accurate readings of blood sugar levels sent to a device or direct to a smart phone. It can sound an alarm if levels become dangerously high or low.
The up-to-NZ$400-a-month cost push CGMs out of reach for many when in the long-term such devices improve diabetic control and put off complications requiring more expensive health care interventions. The alternative finger pricking devices that draw blood and test it on a strip are more invasive, less discreet and require lancets, test strips and a testing device rather than just a smart phone and a sensor.
PDGN is pressing MPs in New Zealand and elsewhere to raise the importance of good glucose control and how technology can play an important role to that end.
Advocacy Action: Apart from finance, what is preventing reimbursement for CGM devices in your country? Can PDGN help with evidence to push the case through your Parliament and/or with your finance ministry?