Patients with rarer types of diabetes can get subsidy for monitoring device

Subsidy of up to 80% will nearly halve monthly costs of such devices

- Yap Wei Qiang Correspondent

Ms Ng Zhuang Shu, who has monogenic diabetes, using the Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitoring system - the only recognised model to be subsidised - to monitor her blood sugar.

(PHOTO: COURTESY OF NG ZHUANG SHU)

Patients with rarer types of diabetes, including those caused by cancer, can now benefit from government subsidies of up to 80 per cent, which would almost halve their monthly costs spent on medical devices.

Since Dec 1, a 30 per cent to 80 per cent subsidy for the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) medical device has been extended to two new groups of eligible Singaporeans receiving treatment at public healthcare institutions, according to an updated technology guidance published by the Ministry of Health's (MOH) Agency for Care Effectiveness.

CGM is a wearable technology, usually a patch, that continuously monitors glucose levels, with readings transmitted wirelessly to a smartphone or reader device.

The continuous and real-time glucose readings allow patients to monitor blood sugar levels without frequent finger-prick tests, which help them make timely adjustments to their insulin dosages, and reduce their risks of having dangerously high or low blood sugar levels, said Dr Sue-Anne Toh, a senior consultant endocrinologist in private practice who co-founded private clinic NOVI Health.

There are over 400,000 patients with diabetes in Singapore, according to MOH's earlier data.

The first new group of beneficiaries are those with pancreatogenic diabetes mellitus, where damage to the pancreas results in the body being unable to produce insulin. This includes cancer patients who had their pancreas removed.

Such patients likely make up a very small percentage of those with diabetes in Singapore, according to clinicians.

Other new beneficiaries are those with monogenic diabetes, where the condition arises from a single gene disorder.