Equality for all people with Type 1 Diabetes. Reimburse Freestyle Libre for adults and children equally.

Last week Minister Harris endorsed the HSE decision to reimburse FreeStyle Libre for children and young adults with Type 1 Diabetes. However that’s where it stopped.

A clear line was drawn between the needs of children / teens and the needs of the adults that work in many rolls including taking care of their children.
The adults who drive on our roads, the adults who care for family young and elderly, and for all those adults must do, they must do it while doing their best to manage their type 1 diabetes every single moment of every single day and night.
Like somehow the tender finger tips of children are more important than those of adults.
Like somehow the daily type 1 diabetes management and the health of children is more important than that of those adults.

A person with type 1 diabetes must check blood glucose many times a day in order to establish if their readings are within range, or too high, or too low.
Traditionally this is done by pricking the finger tip with a lancet and testing the blood drawn on a meter.
After that we must administer the appropriate course of action. Insulin to reduce blood glucose if our reading is too high, or sugar / glucose if our blood reading is too low.

The Freestyle Libre is in two parts, one part is worn on the body ( a sensor ) for 14 days at a time, the other part is a monitor, It’s called a flash glucose meter. You simply flash of scan the monitor over the sensor to obtain a reading without the need to prick fingertips to obtain blood.

Although I welcome the fact that children living with type 1 don’t have to endure the relentless fingerpicking, I’m more than a little angry that adult welfare and health have somehow been demoted in favor of that of younger folk and I feel it would only have taken a little intelligence to realize this.

Fact is, in Ireland children also get an insulin pump easier than an adult who has to fight for it with every bit of energy they have with no guarantee of a successful outcome.

Maybe going forward our minister for health and the HSE could make decisions for everyone concerned, not just for segments of our community, we should not accept anything other than equality for all.

Maybe going forward the Minister for Health could value an adults health as well as that of a child or teen, and the hardship endured by us adults as well as the children.

Value all life, not just that of a certain age.