Simon Busuttil: Pregnant, diabetic women should be provided with glucose monitor

Leader of the opposition Simon Busuttil has said that pregnant women who are also diabetic should be provided with a Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS) that would allow them to continually check blood sugar levels. This will allow them to manage their condition better by knowing exactly when they next need to administer a dose of insulin.

Busuttil put forward the proposal during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on diabetes. The proposal was unanimously accepted.

The CGMS was used in the case of a pregnant diabetic woman; a case that was brought up by the leader of the opposition during his budget speech in parliament said the Nationalist Party.

Busuttil said that enacting such a proposal would require further investment in the training of a support team, made up of medical professionals, that will offer help to pregnant women depending on the case.  

He also hailed progress made in the treatment of diabetes in Malta, however Busuttil insisted that the health system should also ensure that patients are given the type of insulin that is most compatible with them, even when the particular product is not available for free.

According to the PN, these proposals were welcomed by all of the committee’s members, including chairman Godfrey Farrugia, who will be formally presenting them to the Health Minister.