JDRF - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Thousands of advocates from across Australia have stepped up to help secure $35 million for a Clinical Trial Network.

Thanks to all the letters, emails, phone calls and media releases, the campaign for a Clinical Trial Network is having a big impact.

Unfortunately, no government commitment has been made, so funding for the clinical trials in Australia is still uncertain.

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Thousands of advocates have made their voice heard for a Clinical Trial Network, with new supporters signing up every day. The message is clear; Australians cannot accept that our country is falling behind the US and the UK in access to the latest treatments and therapies for type 1 diabetes. A Government commitment of $35 million for a Clinical Trials Network will take research to where it is needed most – directly to people living with this difficult disease.

So far, advocates have not received the answer they are desperately hoping for but it is not too late to get involved.

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The Government has announced a new Advisory Group to advise on services for people with diabetes, but the type 1 diabetes community appears to be gravely under-represented. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world’s largest non-government supporter of diabetes research, has not been invited to participate.

CEO of JDRF Mike Wilson said he was hearing concern from the type 1 diabetes community about the new $450 million diabetes program and the new panel appointed to help the government deliver it.

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Put simply, a clinical trial is a scientific study of a new medical therapy in humans.

Clinical trials are usually the last stage of the research process, capping off years of laboratory and animal research. Their ultimate aim is to obtain a realistic picture of what would happen if a medical treatment was available to the Australian public. Read more...

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday committed to match a $500,000 funding contribution made by President of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in Australia, Dr Susan Alberti AO. He also committed to additional matching government funding for JDRF to a total of $5 million into the future.

One hundred JDRF Youth Ambassadors aged 3 to 32, all with type 1 diabetes, converged on Parliament House to personally ask for government funding for type 1 diabetes research and a Clinical Trials Network (CTN).

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One hundred Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Youth Ambassadors aged 3 to 40, all with type 1 diabetes, will converge on Canberra to plead for continued government funding for type 1 diabetes research on 18 March.

Supported by a crowd of family members, total numbers at Kids in the House will hit 300. They are visiting Canberra as representatives of the 140,000 children and adults in Australia with type 1 diabetes, and the tens of thousands more who care for them.

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Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon MP, has announced an expansion of the Type 1 Diabetes Insulin Pump Program, with a dramatically increased government subsidy of up to 80% of the purchase price of an insulin pump.

The program was first launched in 2008 and provides a means-tested subsidy towards the purchase of an insulin pump for children under 18 who do not have access to private health insurance.

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After visiting the White House to meet US President Barack Obama with 150 young people from around the world earlier this year, JDRF Youth Ambassador Brendan still had a couple more names on his list of world leaders to meet and talk about type 1 diabetes. He was able to cross another name off recently when he had dinner with the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd.

JDRF: How did you come to meet the PM?

Brendan: My Federal MP, Roger Price, invited me to his annual dinner dance.  He was being honoured for serving 25 years in Parliament and invited the PM as his guest of honour.  When we arrived at the dance, I was told by Mr Price’s staff that I would be sitting next to Mr Rudd for dinner, which was quite exciting!

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This information has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

The Carer Payment provides income support to carers who, because of the demands of their caring role, are unable to support themselves through substantial paid work. The Carer Payment is income and assets tested and paid at the same rate as other social security pensions. Some changes to the Carer Payment will take place from 1 July 2009.

The most important change is to the way qualification for Carer Payment is assessed. The new method that will be used from 1 July 2009 looks at the carer’s total care load.

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“Remember, don’t call him ‘Barack’ or ‘Obama’. He should only be addressed as ‘Mr. President’”, explained a JDRF staffer at Children’s Congress 2009 in Washington in June. The meeting with the President of the United States was a first in the history of Children’s Congress, America’s equivalent to our Kids in the House events. Thirteen year old Sydney boy Brendan, Australia’s delegate to Children’s Congress, was thrilled to be in Washington to join the occasion.

The Presidential meeting was a secret until the previous day, to avoid disappointment in the event that the schedule had to be changed. Luckily the meeting went to plan, and so Brendan joined the 150 other delegates from across the US and the world who buzzed with anticipation as they visited the heavily guarded presidential residence. Few people are granted access to this building, so envious parents, volunteers and staff were not permitted to join the photo shoot. A close encounter with one of the world’s most powerful men was saved just for the children; after all they are the ones with type 1 diabetes and the best advocates for government support.

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