Diabetes: A societal problem requiring a Government response

More than 1.3million people are affected by diabetes in Australia and the number diagnosed with the condition is set to rise rapidly in coming decades.

I have recently been part of a parliamentary inquiry that spent several months travelling Australia, including to remote indigenous communities and rural towns to study the causes and impacts of diabetes. On 3 July we delivered our report, the majority recommending bold, urgent action including a levy on sugary drinks and a ban on junk food advertising. 

Diabetes is causing greater harm to Australians than even smoking did at its peak, yet for the past two decades the Federal Government has not acted to alleviate the harm. Type 2 diabetes accounts for the vast majority of cases. It’s largely preventable, with obesity among the strongest risk factors. And what’s worse, Type 2 diabetes is now affecting younger and younger people. What was once a disease of middle age, is now increasingly impacting children and causing lifelong ill health and early death. 

It is a tragedy in slow motion.

As a doctor with a masters in public health, I know initiatives targeting individual behaviour will never be enough. With one quarter of children and two-thirds of adults above the healthy weight range – obesity and type 2 diabetes are societal problems requiring a societal response. That means taking the two most effective steps that many other countries have taken.

The first is implementing a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages, graduated according to sugar content. The proposed levy is designed to encourage manufacturers to reformulate their products and lower their liability. Evidence from among the 103 countries that have implemented similar measures shows that companies can reformulate their products to contain lower sugar content.

The Liberals and Nationals on the committee opposed this part of the recommendations, arguing the levy would hit low-income families the hardest during a cost-of-living crisis. But this is so short-sighted. The very same groups will be the ones hit by future medical costs. There’s never a good time, but waiting is so much worse. The whole idea of the levy is to reduce sugar content in the products, rather than drive up costs. 

The second is to restrict marketing and advertising of unhealthy food to children on all platforms including online and gaming platforms. Our children simply cannot escape unhealthy food marketing – it is ubiquitous. I have been campaigning for restrictions to prevent advertising of all unhealthy foods and beverages to children since I was elected to parliament in May 2022. 

That’s why I moved my private members bill in June 2023. This is not radical. Some 40 countries have done it, including the UK, Norway, Mexico and Chile. As a GP I saw the impact that diabetes has on patients: blindness, strokes, heart disease, amputation, nerve and kidney damage. It is a leading cause of premature death, but prior to that, patients and their families see their quality of life eroded.

The evidence before our inquiry from people with diabetes was harrowing. That’s why I sincerely hope the Albanese government will have the guts to stand up to the powerful soft drink and junk food industry.