That's a very good question. I'm going to answer it in two ways.
Certainly there are technologies of interest for the treatment of type 1 diabetes in particular. I know the committee discussed the difference between type 1 and type 2 at the last session, but I'll just refresh everyone's memory.
Type 1 diabetes requires insulin administration via injections or an insulin pump, with a regular and routine blood glucose measurement. Currently there's no harmonized process across Canada for accessibility to pumps. Some provinces allow people to have access to pumps no matter what their age.
For example, in Quebec, if you're under 18 you have access to government coverage for a pump, but if you're over 18 you don't. If I have patients who are diagnosed at 17 and a half, I have six months to try to have them learn about type 1 diabetes, how to manage it, and then consider the pump. Because I know that after that, they won't be admissible for coverage. For the first year of the pump, that certainly means $10,000 of expenses.
In a similar vein, there are some very new technologies for monitoring blood glucose in a continuous fashion. Traditionally, we use a finger poke to check our blood sugar. There are devices now that can monitor it 240 times in a day without your having to poke yourself 240 times a day, which is obviously impossible. These technologies have a really significant impact on my management of my patients. That's not covered. It may be covered by some private insurance, but not universally.
Obviously, insulin is covered for children across Canada. That's fantastic. Access to insulin is not equal across the world. We're privileged in that sense. I think we do have some work to do to make some of the newer technologies for individuals with type 1 diabetes more accessible in a universal fashion.