For more than a decade A/Prof Neale Cohen has been visiting remote Australian communities and has seen firsthand the devastating effects of diabetes and its complications. “This is not typical type 2 diabetes; its onset is early and its progression to the end stage of complications is rapid. It is not solely driven by lifestyle factors, like diet and exercise, in the way that type 2 diabetes is in the non Indigenous population. It has a genetic component that is severely compounded by the remoteness of the local communities, and their access to holistic health care” A/Prof NealeCohen.
Thanks to an initial grant from TDM Foundation and Hearts and Minds Investments, the groundwork is currently being laid for this ambitious Improve Sugar Trial, the aim of which is to improve the health of indigenous people who live with diabetes in remote communities across Australia.
The tragedy of Indigenous diabetes is its prevalence – 20% of the indigenous population live with diabetes as compared to 5% of non-indigenous Australians, and its rapid progression to life limiting complications such as heart and kidney failure.
Death rates from diabetes are 10 times higher in indigenous populations, and that needs to change.