Draft Diabetes Action Plan dismissed as 'background document' that lacks action

Diabetes experts have dismissed health officials' draft Diabetes Action Plan as all talk and no action.

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Roughly 280,000 New Zealanders have diabetes now.

The number of people with type 2 is expected to increase to between 390,000 to 430,000 New Zealanders by 2040. Experts are warning the draft plan does little to head that off in its current form.

The draft plan, obtained by RNZ, says it addresses the need for better management of pre-diabetes and sets out priority actions for improving diabetes care over the next five years.

But Otago University professor of human nutrition and medicine Dr Jim Mann said the action plan lacks action.

"It's good to have this acknowledgement but the most important point I want to make about the plan is that it is not an action plan, because an action plan will say that what needs to be done now to start tackling this diabetes epidemic that we have, and that is missing. It is a background document," Mann said.

The draft sets out focus areas which include increasing awareness, improving access to support to manage diabetes, equitable medication access, strengthening leadership and improving cultural competency. But Mann believes it is vague.

"The report does list a number of areas that require attention, but in fact, there is no prioritisation, there are no numbers, there are no figures attached to the suggestions that they come up with. And in fact, what that looks like almost is a wish list," he said.

Diabetes New Zealand chief executive Heather Verry agrees action is missing.

"It covers the diabetes problem but we really need to shorten it into some timeline actions that can actually take place," she said.

Pacific health expert Dr Colin Tukuitonga is disappointed. While the draft focuses on Māori and Pacific, who are disproportionately impacted by diabetes, Tukuitonga said it lacked specific action and wider input was needed.

"It's hard to see how this would be translated through to meaningful and effective action on the ground. It's disappointing that it's still a plan that was produced by the bureaucracy for communities.

"I would have preferred more leadership and stewardship by Māori and Pacific community leaders," he said.

Mann is worried about how long the plan could take to implement. He said it would involve new health entities, like Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority, which were part of major health reforms and yet to get up and running.

The reforms are expected to take effect from 1 July 2022.

"We can't wait for this to be in place. And for the various entities to get their act together and to then make decisions. We have got to have decisions here or now," Mann said.

Dr Karl Cole's been a GP in Papatoetoe for 14 years. In that time, the number of diabetic patients he treats has only gone up. Currently 240 patients at his practice have diabetes and 433 are prediabetic.

"It's getting to be like blood pressure it's so common. A good part of your day is just dealing with it. It feels like we are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff with very restricted tools," he said.

The Ministry of Health says the plan sets out what is needed to improve diabetes care in Aotearoa - how this will be achieved will be developed in partnership with Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority.

The draft plan is currently out for discussion with stakeholders until 4 May.

"Feedback from priority groups has been prioritised to ensure the plan addresses what is important to Māori, Pacific peoples and people with lived experience. All feedback is being considered by the ministry," a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.

Mann warns if the draft is not improved there will be real consequences.

"We will see more people developing diabetes, we will see increased complications in diabetes if we don't see immediate action," he said.

Read about RNZ's Megan Whelan's journey of learning to live with type 2 diabetes