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In the News:

Excellent RNZ article by Stephen Forbes describing the call from Dr John Baker, endocrinologist and Chair of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa, for transparency around submissions regarding funding of vital medications for diabetes.  Dr Baker has tirelessly advocated for modern drugs, such as Empagliflozin and Dulaglutide.  If made appropriately accessible, these newer medications commonly used elsewhere in the world, could help improve the health of 1000's of New Zealanders with diabetes,...

Albert-Eden Local Board shows they are truly behind community gardening

Community gardening has so many benefits, both for health, the community itself, and the environment.   It's great that the Albert-Eden Local Board are providing funding for Gardens4Health to deliver practical support to the community gardeners, and also encouraging participation.   In this news article we have our Gardens4Health faciliator Hari in a community garden.   Also see the excellent quote about the value of participation from the Local Board Chair Mar...

In the News:

Regarding the Pharmac decision to delay diabetes medication (Empagliflozin and Dulaglutide) funding,  Dr Baker, Board Chair of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa was giving Pharmac the "benefit of the doubt" in that they may be responding to recent research and feedback from clinicians that the proposed model wouldn't have worked to get maximum benefit.  Dr Baker however reiterates that New Zealand does need to have better than the current "third world" treatments available....

In the News

The heading is 'Monumental change urged to battle South Auckland diabetes epidemic.  As raised in the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa summit, urgent action is needed. Well known South Auckland diabetes specialist Dr Brandon Orr-Walker was interviewed in this Stephen Forbes article for Stuff.   He comments on obesity as being the driving force behind diabetes, and how  using a similar approach to what has successfully been used with smoking would be helpful.  He notes that "...

In the News:

Professor David Simmons talks about new research just published from the DCSS data gathered Auckland over a 20 year period from Primary care.  See here for more information on the data source and here for the journal article. “It’s very clear from the data that leaving things as they are isn’t going to work.”  "Pharmac needs to fund medicines such as Empagliflozin and Dulaglutide to help treat people with diabetes".  “We can’t have people at the bottom of the clif...

Publication - DCSS - Ethnic differences in mortality and hospital admission

Successful publication of a paper using the DCSS data by Professor Simmons and Team.  The Lancet Global Health. Volume 9, Issue 2, E209-E217, February 2021. The interpretation summary from the article is "Compared with European patients, poorer health outcomes have persisted among Māori and Pacific people with type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years. New policies supporting prevention and more intensive management of type 2 diabetes are urgently needed. Research into the biological and...

In the News:

This October article from Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy reporter, is an excellent follow-on from our August 2020 Summit.   The author quotes our Board Chair, Dr John Baker as saying New Zealand is currently "using drugs described as Third World treatments in the battle against type two diabetes".  Dr Bakers position is that "more modern drugs, such as Empagliflozin and Dulaglutide are needed". ...

In the News:

"New type 2 diabetes drugs could stop kidney failure and save lives but not yet within reach for many" headlines this Bridie Witton article which was published in Stuff.  The article describes how big a difference the new diabetes medications can potentially make, and how they are shown to prevent complications and make life better for people with diabetes.   Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Board member, Graham King, describes his own experience and highlights how access to what...

In the News:

"Election 2020: Māori Party's John Tamihere says diabetes drugs would be funded if Pākehā were suffering" is the headline for this article by Nicholas Jones in NZ Herald. John Tamihere made his comments at the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Diabetes Summit where Professor David Simmons, who has been analysing south Auckland diabetes data from the DCSS Audit, said not having access to modern diabetes drugs was a "national scandal".  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-maori-par...

Diabetes Summit 2020 - Turning Diabetes data into better health

In August 2020 we held our second annual Diabetes Summit.  Due to Covid lockdown conditions this is in full webinar format.  Go here to read details of agenda and speakers and watch the video.Many thanks to those who stepped up to make this event happen and all those who tuned in and participated in spite of the challenging circumstances!Welcome - 6pmHostsDr John Baker (Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa) andDr Matire Harwood (Papakura Marae)Webinar AgendaMore insights from the past, ev...

Annual Activity Report - 2019-2020

Please click on the link below for the 2019 to 2020 Annual Activity Report.   This report covers part of the time when Covid-19 was starting to really make an impact on the activities of New Zealanders and the rest of the world.   For financial information please see separate document or visit the Charities Commission website...

Congratulations to Professor Simmons

Professor David Simmons, MA, MBBS, FRACP, FRCP, MD (Cantab) has a long history in the New Zealand diabetes scene, South Auckland in particular.  Based in Sydney, Australia, he continues to be involved in research and practical interventions and treatments aimed at improving the lives and outcomes of people with or at risk of diabetes.   We congratulate David for receiving the 2020 Norbert Freinkel Award, given in memory of Norbert Freinkel, investigator and thought leader. Press r...

What a community can do when it comes together

We've been working in the Otara area for over 20 years so shared the deep disappointment when plans emerged that yet another fast food outfit, a KFC, was going to be built on a prominent corner site in the Otara town centre.  Now those plans have been confirmed as being cancelled, and this may be in part after community action.  This action included a petition organised by resident led community group Thriving Otara which gained nearly 5000 signatures under the banner "Say No Go t...

Throwback... remembering "Lets Beat Diabetes"

Who can believe it...it's 15 years since the Lets Beat Diabetes 5 year plan was put into action.   Lets Beat Diabetes (LBD) was a very ambitious project put together by Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB), as it was back then.   There's more information on the original planning from a document here and a 2007 workshop information sharing document here.    The project was described as "Let’s Beat Diabetes, commissioned by Counties Manukau District ...

Poster - Worth Study, community style recruiting, living the stories 2020

Poster  describing the experience of community based recruiting for the WORTH study "Which One if Right Here" Vildagliptin and Pioglitazone crossover study.    Kate Smallman, Karen Pickering, Trish Harry, Rinki Murphy....

Many thanks to our long term contract manager, Barbara Lusk

Barbara Lusk, contract manager and public health advocate extraordinaire, has retired from her (most recent) role with the Ministry of Health after nearly two decades of providing support and guidance to organisations such as our own.   I still remember her first visit to our small and at that time, rather run-down, shared premises in Otara.  It would have been 2001. Barbara sat in my office and explained how she liked to work, and how reporting would be done...sensibly.  &nb...

OrganicNZ write-up for Gardens4Health

Excellent article in OrganicNZ in the November/December 2019 issue written by Anissa Ljanta about Gardens4Health in the Auckland community....

Kate Smallman presents to the 2019 Primary Care day

YouTube link to a presentation Nurse Prescriber Kate Smallman delivered to the 2019 diabetes management in primary care day.  The topic is commencing insulin for type 2 diabetes.    This day was hosted by the Auckland faculty of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and the Goodfellow Unit....

New Research - the "Which One is Right Here (WORTH) Study

Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa are proud to be a community based study site for the randomised cross-over trial of vildagliptin and pioglitazone as add-on therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes: predicting Which One is Right Here (WORTH).Clinical Projects Manager/Researcher Kate Smallman and Research Assistant Trish Harry are delivering recruiting and management activities from our Otara office.   Recruiting is expected to finish is 2020.More information on what the study is about can ...

In the News:

This headline "Diabetes: New Zealand’s greatest epidemic" is from this article by Farah Hancock from Newsroom.The journalist describes how Professor Simmons presented early results from data gathered during the more than 20 years of audits carried out in Primary care to a full house at the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa Diabetes Summit at Waipuna Lodge.   One of the significant points presented was that “Things haven’t really got any better, both in terms of management and ine...

Annual Activity Report - 2018-2019

We are delighted to present the first Annual Activity Report under the name of Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa.  This document covers for the year April 2018 to March 2019.  Please click on the link below to download the PDF.   For financials, see separate document or visit the Charities Commission website....

In the News:

Professor David Simmons had this to say about the situation with diabetes in Aotearoa New Zealand, as reported in this article in  Otago Daily Times.  "When people say, 'It's going to get worse', it's already got worse''.   Professor Simmons, is an international diabetes expert who has, with his team, been responsible for undertaking analysis of the extensive dataset left after closure of the DCSS Audit, which was carried out by Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa until 2018. The au...

South Auckland Diabetes Summit 2019: An urgent call to action

In 2019 the first South Auckland Diabetes Summit was held at Waipuna Lodge with a full house of health professionals, funders, representatives, patients and other stakeholders.  The summit came about after the 2018 closure of the DCSS diabetes quality audit in Auckland Primary care after over 20 years.  After an initial look at the data, the question was how to take what had been observed in those years further because things clearly had a long way to go as far as improving the situati...

About our new tohu “He huka kei te toto”

We have had just two other logo's or tohu since the Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa started back in the early 1990's, both stayed in use for a considerable period of time and represented the organisation well.  The new tohu is reflective a period of essential growth, change and development for the organisation and is in the form of a Koru.  It has been designed by prominent Māori artist Dr Richard Cooper and gifted by him to Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa.  Dr Coop...

New name, new Trust deed, new logo...we are now Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa

Diabetes Projects Trust has been in operation since the early 1990's.   In it's early days it was based at Middlemore hospital where it had been set up with a primary focus on conducting research.  In 2000 the organisation moved to Otara to share premises (and many discussions over the lunch table) with the team from the Whitiora diabetes service. The organisation continued to adapt until it reached it's current health promotion focus, designing and delivering specialised diabetes...