Diabetes is becoming one of Australia’s most prevalent modern healthcare challenges. Already, there’s an estimated 1.3 million population (or one in 20 people) with the disease, several hundred of them living with health complications associated with it. There are also some 500,000 undiagnosed individuals with Type 2 diabetes – highlighting the impending nature of the issue.
As Australia seeks to improve the delivery of diabetes care, there still remains a stigma surrounding those living with it. Its is reported that four out of five people living with diabetes in Australia feel stigmatised when talking about their condition to their peers and loved ones.
As we observe Australia’s National Diabetes Week this year – which aims to raise greater awareness about diabetes and have conversations about the real impact of the disease through their “Heads Up on Diabetes” campaign – we at Homage Australia are fully behind dissipating the myth surrounding diabetes as well as advise on steps to help address it.
Raising diabetes awareness and removing stigma barriers
Contrary to popular belief, the diagnosis of diabetes is not a direct result of eating too much sugar in one’s diet; rather, it occurs when one’s body is unable to produce enough insulin or does not use insulin effectively, resulting in high glucose levels in the body.
Still, having an unhealthy diet heightens one’s risk of diabetes, which is why there’s a common perception that those who are obese and overweight will be the likeliest to have the disease. While they carry inherent risks, they each have their important distinctions.
For instance, Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed mostly during childhood and is classified as an autoimmune disease, despite the common knowledge that diabetes occurs later in life when someone has a sedentary lifestyle. Meanwhile, Type 2 diabetes is when the body does not respond to insulin enough to manage blood glucose levels, Others, like gestational diabetes, happen to pregnant mothers when hormonal changes cause a rise in blood glucose levels. Essentially, this means that diabetes is a risk to more people than what is commonly understood.
Nevertheless, no matter the type, diabetes poses a long-term risk to Australia’s efforts to safeguard its long-term healthcare. Currently, there are national efforts being implemented to improve the delivery of diabetes care. This includes the government providing pledges to deliver subsidised continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices to those with Type 1.
At Homage, we support these timely efforts. We are also doing our own to endorse these broader initiatives by providing specialised care to those with the condition, in addition to sharing resources and tips on lifestyle and receiving adequate support to help people manage their condition.
An all-in effort is needed
Diabetes is indeed becoming a rising healthcare concern in Australia but addressing it effectively must go beyond just considering immediate healthcare factors. Diabetic people also require social support undertaken without the stigma usually associated with conversations about diabetes, and people who have it should not be discriminated against due to seemingly unhealthy lifestyles, as that is not the only inherent factor.
In tackling the diabetes problem effectively, support must be multiplied beyond just government efforts and to everyone in Australia’s healthcare ecosystem – including healthcare industry stakeholders, communities and even families – who all play their own unique roles to spread awareness and ensure sufferers receive the right diabetes information and care that they need. We at Homage stand ready to play our part in providing the relevant care and information to those living with, or have loved ones who suffer from, diabetes.
