Almost six million people in Spain suffer from diabetes.The type 2, which occurs above all in adults from the age600,000 people, according to a Fede Calculation (Spanish Diabetes Federation).
Suffering type 1 implies having to apply insulin between four and five times a day.The most traditional method is to prick the body with a syringe, again and again, every three hours on average.That is, the person who has an absolute insulin deficit must be stuck a needle up to 140 times in a month.
Parents who have to inject their children have to deal with childhood fear, and adults must alter their routine to perform punctures.
two effective but expensive methods
In the market there are two devices, called injection ports, which significantly reduce applications: the Insuflon (of Convert) and the I-Port Advance (of Medtronic).The first is a small port with a cannula that is inserted in the subcutaneous tissue, which after removing the needle, is stuck with a small dressing.In the cannula, when appropriate, insulin is injected without the need to puncture with a syringe.
In the case of the I-Port, this device is more comfortable to place and also allows insulin to be directly injected without resorting to needles.As its placement has a duration of three days, the patient will reduce the injections of the 140 per month to only 10.
People with diabetes: injection ports allow to reduce the 140 monthly punctures to only 10
The problem is the cost: these devices cost from 30 to 70 euros the kit for a month, that is up to about 840 euros per year.At this price you should add the expenses that a person with diabetes has, which can reach 1,770 euros per year, calculates the Fede.Of this cost, 15% goes in antidiabetic drugs, another 24% in other drugs such as antihypertensives or hypolipemiants, and 61% in primary care and hospitalizations expenses.
Iport Diabetes
I-Port, an injection port that reduces applications with syringes from 140 to 10 per month.
The problem is that these kits to reduce injections are not covered by social security.Therefore, the Spanish Federation and community delegations have joined the claim of patients and have asked the Ministry of Health to integrate these devices to the portfolio of products that are subsidized by public administrations.
"But we have not only requested that they integrate these injection ports, but we have asked for social security to cover all the technological devices that are in the market to help diabetics," says Aureliano Ruíz Salmon, first vice president of Fede andPresident of the Cantabrian Association of Diabetics.
Diabetes: The disease implies an expense of 5,447 million between treatments and hospitalizations
Other devices that are not covered by Social Security are glucose meters.People with diabetes should click on a finger and analyze a drop of blood to specify the blood level in their body.Traditional strips for samples are free, but there are more sophisticated meters that avoid punctures, and cost 60 euros for a use of 15 days."We want diabetic people to take advantage of the technology that has come out to have a better quality of life," says Ruíz Salmon.
The cost of diabetes
The Ministry of Health promised to study the request and from the Fede hope that before the end of the year they can have a positive response.The Government has not specifiedHow much should transfer to the autonomous communities to respond to the needs of diabetic people, "but the State has to take it as an investment and not as a cost," says the vice president of the Federation.
According to the Fede, diabetes urge more than 23,000 million euros to the State, between a direct expenditure of 5,447 million euros in the health system, and and indirect in the order of 17,630 million, divided between what is diluted by work absenteeism (8.4 billion), early retirements (9,484 million) and social expenses (101 million).
In terms of health, 16% of blind people in Spain are because of diabetes, and 25,000 Spaniards die every year for this disease, the sixth cause of deaths in the country.
