Thursday, 5 October 2023

 Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (17:02): (361) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Health. It concerns constituents in my electorate who have been to see me who are diabetics and are concerned about having access to the new diabetic drug Ozempic. They are quite worried that, as is well reported in the media, there is a shortage of this drug and that shortage may last through to probably June next year. What I would be asking the Minister for Health for is to join with other MPs in this house who have a similar issue with their constituents and work through – I understand it is a federal issue – the ministerial council to try and get a system in place where those diabetics who are already on this drug can actually have priority access in a situation of shortage. As I understand it, talking to the people who have been to see me, it takes a while for this drug to work for them. Then they build up a reliance on this drug, and if they do not have it and have to go back to the old forms of diabetic drugs, that creates quite a serious health issue for them. So I ask the minister through her role in MinCo and with the federal minister to make sure that there is a process in place for priority access for diabetics to this drug in Victoria.