ABBOTT announced today that the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan has granted national financing to the free freestyle glucose monitoring system as of September 1, 2017. This revolutionary system will be totally available for more than 1Million of six years of age or more with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, who receive insulin treatment.
The diabetes rate in Japan is one of the highest in the world: 9.5 million Japanese live with this disease.1
“This is a significant advance for the Japanese who have diabetes, as well as for the health professionals who treat them.Freestyle Libre has had a demonstrable impact around the world helping people with diabetes and we are satisfied with the decision of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan that the Japanese government finance the product to the people who need it, ”he saidJared Watkin, senior vice president of the Abbott Diabetes Division.
Abbott's free freestyle system helps overcome the challenges of routine punctures in fingers2 for people with diabetes, with a rapid scan of a second of a small sensor that is applied in the back face of the upper part of the arm.In addition, calibration is not necessary by punctures on the finger and that is a key factor that differentiates it from current continuous glucose measurement systems.With the device data users can better know what their glucose levels are through the ambulatory profile of glucose (AGP), a graph that provides a visual image of glucose levels, trends and glucose patterns through thetime.The AGP also provides doctors with more detailed information to make more informed treatment decisions.
“In order for diabetes treatment to be effective, it is essential that people with diabetes frequently measure their glucose levels.For my patients, it often constitutes a challenge to measure glucose due to pain, discomfort and stigma of puncture on the finger.Freestyle free not only allows my patients to control their glucose more frequently due to the comfort of technology, but also provides valuable trends and glucose patterns that help me make more informed treatment decisions, ”said Dr. YoshihitoATSUMI, director of the Diabetes Center of the General Hospital of EIJU.
Two published clinical trials3 and evidence of real life in more than 50,000 users4 show that people who use the free freestyle system are measured on average 15 times a day.Studies also show that people who scan more frequently with the system spend less time in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level) or hyperglycemia (high level of blood sugar) while improving average levels ofglucose demonstrating better global glucose control.
ABBott's free freestyle system was launched in Europe in 2014 and is currently available in 39 countries.Japan now joins the group of 16 countries in which the system is financed, including large markets such as France and Germany.