DIRECT PREVENTATIVE HEALTH ACTION - $35 MILLION FOR A DIABETES CLINICAL TRIAL NETWORK

Hundreds of families in the electorate of Paterson could benefit directly or in the future from the establishment of Diabetes Clinical Trial Network (CTN) in Australia.

Bob Baldwin, Member for Paterson said the Coalition will provide $35 million dollars to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to pursue finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes through the Clinical Trial Network from next year.

Mr Baldwin has worked with JDRF for many years to raise awareness and funds to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. This includes the Walk to Cure Diabetes in October 2009 where Mr Baldwin’s team was able to donate $10,000, thanks to kind donations. Young diabetes sufferer, Sam Parkinson from Lorn, also visited Mr Baldwin in Parliament as part of JDRF’s Kids in the House program.

“There will be hundreds of families in Paterson in which a family member suffers from Type 1 Diabetes,” Mr Baldwin said.

“Establishment of a Diabetes CTN in Australia will enable people with diabetes to join international clinical trials for promising new treatments and technologies for diabetes.”

Bob Baldwin said this could give them access to treatments five or ten years before they would otherwise become available in Australia.

“It could bring researchers just that much closer to a cure for this chronic and life-threatening disease,” Mr Baldwin said.

There are an estimated 140,000 sufferers of Type 1 diabetes in Australia, 20,000 of those are children.

An operative CTN would speed up access to the latest treatments and technologies, translate promising Australian research into clinical outcomes, improve health and reduce complications for those with Type 1 diabetes.

Mr Baldwin said there could be flow on benefits to Australians who suffer other auto-immune diseases.

“Some people with Type 2 diabetes who experience the same life threatening complications as those with Type 1 diabetes will also benefit,” Mr Baldwin added.