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 cliff not getting access to these drugs, it’s inequitable and it’s discriminatory. This is something that’s needed now,” he said.
Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa chairman Dr John Baker is in full agreement, he has said he believes that the drugs currently being prescribed for type 2 diabetes in New Zealand are being described as "Third World treatments". His view is that the study "highlights the need for Pharmac to fund Empagliflozin and Dulaglutide as they can add years to a patient’s life and prevent their progression to end stage kidney disease by up to 15 years".
National Urban Māori Authority chairwoman Tureiti Moxon notes "We've got to turn this around".
