This week we have a few events happening in Sydney.
Australasian Diabetes Congress
This year the Congress runs from the 21st to the 23rd of August. It is not open to the average punter living with diabetes, but is targeted at “health professionals”. It is the annual meeting of the ADS (Australian Diabetes Society: primarily endocrinologists) and the ADEA (Australian Diabetes Educators Association).
Luckily for you there will be a team of “consumers” including myself at the congress. Diabetes Australia has its Peoples Voice team attending. I will publish selected news here across the coming weeks, and if you’re on Twitter you can follow along by watching the #DAPeoplesVoice and #19ADC hashtags.
At the 2018 congress (in Adelaide) we saw quite a few things happen, including:
- Medtronic announced their 670G pump.
- AMSL launched the Tandem t:slim X2 pump in Australia (and the V-Go pump for T2D).
- Ascensia launched the Contour Next One BG meter in Australia.
- Diabetes Australia launched their Position Statement on the use of DIY diabetes technology.
- I was one of the presenters of a symposium on DIY technology and “looping”. It was where the DA position statement was launched, and it’s described in the article linked above.
There were of course lots more things presented that year. This is just a small list. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this week, and I look forward to sharing some of them with you.
There are also a few other events happening this week in association with the Congress:
Diabetes Social Media Summit
This afternoon (from 1pm Australian Eastern Time) there will be a summit run in Sydney just prior to the congress. Last year I was able to attend in person, but today I need to be physically elsewhere. I will however be participating remotely.
Items on the agenda include: diabetes tech decision making (including making things available for people without the online networks we sometimes take for granted), advocating for funding/subsidy, and discussion of diabetes “complications” (an issue which affects us all, even if we’re currently free of those health impacts).
To follow along on Twitter, check out #OzDSMS.
Roche Educators Day
Today there’s also an all-day event for DEs. You can follow along any reporting on Twitter at #RED2019.
Disclaimers
Through my involvement in the DAVoices program, in 2018 Diabetes Australia provided me with registration for the congress. In 2019 I’m already registered, and Diabetes Australia has provided me with transportation to Sydney. I receive no other compensation or grants for these activities.
Cost is a big issue. I know there’s subsidies, but Type 1 need more help. For example, the CGM. My fingers get so sore as I have to prick up to 5 times a day. The Pumps, you have to be in a Health Fund to get one. Diabetes, is now an Epidemic with more people being diagnosed every day. Thankyou.
David, thank you for the update.
Will the conference cover care for T1s in aged care facilities? I am getting old so this worries me enormously, particularly in the light of what is coming out of the Royal Commission on Aged Care. On the one hand, I want to be as well as possible to avoid those sorts of facilities, on the other hand, a sudden heartie could be just the ticket to avoid it all together. I look forward to knowing whether this is on anyone’s agenda yet. If not, it should be.
Regards.
Tracy
I agree with this!
My mum is 86 and could no longer cope with MDI so she is on a mixed insulin and doing ok but mostly that’s because miaomiao came along so we could suddenly afford a CGM!
If she had already been looping, would she have been able to just leave it to the loop? Too late to start now, she has never had a pump!