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The Ontario government will pick up the tab on insulin pumps for adults living with type 1 diabetes beginning in September as part of a new four-year, $741-million strategy to deal with diabetes announced Tuesday.
About 1,300 adults will receive funded pumps each year under the program, at a cost to taxpayers of $62-million over the four years. Since late 2006, the province has paid for the device for Ontarians under the age of 18. The pumps, which deliver insulin through a catheter placed under the skin, offer an alternative to multiple daily injections.
The province will also spend $150-million over four years on its electronic diabetes registry, set to begin next spring, which will warehouse patient records and diagnostic information. The system allows doctors to quickly check medical records and send out patient alerts.
The number of Ontarians with diabetes has increased by 69 per cent over the last 10 years, and the health ministry projects the numbers to grow from 900,000 to 1.2 million by 2010.
Other elements of the new diabetes strategy:
• $290-million on current and new programs, including the expansion of "team-based care" involving doctors, registered nurses, dieticians and endocrinologists. The government will map the prevalence of diabetes across the province in order to better co-ordinate care.
• $220-million to expand the province's chronic-kidney-disease program, including an increase in the availability of dialysis treatment at regional centres, satellites, long-term care homes, independent health facilities, and more home-based dialysis.
• $75-million for bariatric surgery, education and programs – a recognition that obesity is one of the main risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes. The surgical procedure modifies the gastrointestinal tract to reduce food intake.
The plan includes a campaign to raise awareness about the causes of diabetes, as well as focused education for higher-risk populations, including those in the aboriginal and south Asian communities.
The strategy was endorsed by the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Ontario Medical Association, the Diabetes Expert Panel and Dieticians of Canada.
Karen Philip of the CDA said the plan will allow diabetics to better manage their disease and reduce the complications that can result in hospital overcrowding, including strokes and heart and kidney disease.
Still, she cautioned, the new funding is not a quick fix and Type-2 diabetes, which usually develops after childhood, could still increase dramatically as a result of obesity.
“What's really important about (Monday's) announcement is that it's going to control the complications of diabetes, and that's where the cost is,” said Ms. Philip.
With a report from The Canadian Press
