What happened to the four million a year allocated for 2021, 2022 and 2023 for the purchase of devices for continuous blood glucose monitoring for patients with type 1 diabetes in Sardinia?
“The Ats”, explains Antonio Piu for the Progressives, the first signatory of a question filed with the Regional Council, “has not yet determined the total need for the devices and therefore no purchase procedure has been started: the result is that hundreds of patients, especially the youngest and consequently their families, are deprived of a fundamental device for the management of the disease. In any case, the purchase forecasts do not seem to go in the direction of total coverage of pediatric patients and in the immediately following range, up to 17 years “.
“We remind you that the resolution that is now firm”, underlines the group leader Francesco Agus, “had an elaborate path, with two steps in the council and one in the commission: it bound to the total coverage of pediatric patients and those of pre- adult and instead, as the heads of the diabetic departments have been reiterating for some time, nothing has yet been done “.
Sardinia holds the record for the incidence of type 1 diabetes, with an exponential increase in cases: “Yet”, recalls Piu, “it is the only Region in Italy that has not taken action in the direction suggested by all the studies: sensors for Continuous blood glucose monitoring allows for an unlimited number of glucose readings and provides information on glucose trends even in the intervals between readings, making it easier for treating physicians to read the blood glucose trend. Without considering the psychological factor, especially important for younger patients: the sensor can replace the lancing device, useful for measuring blood sugar through the drop of blood on the test strips, on different occasions of the day, simplifying the normal performance of patients’ activities and families. The Department of Health and the Ats must take action as soon as possible to make the resolution operational ».