Diabetes Ireland and Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance, together with Irish Research Council are co-funding this research project aimed at:
“Estimating the population health impact and cost-effectiveness of implementing evidence base diabetes care and prevention in Ireland”
Diabetes Ireland and Diabetes Ireland Research Alliance, together with Irish Research Council have agreed to co-fund a two-year research project totalling €106,365 aimed at estimating the economic cost of diabetes care in Ireland and modelling the health impact and cost-effectiveness of implementing optimal evidence-based diabetes care and prevention services in Ireland.
The research project has three main objectives:
- to develop a simulation model to estimate health impact and intervention effectiveness to prevent and manage diabetes in Ireland
- to use the model to estimate the health impact and cost-effectiveness that could be achieved with optimal management of diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and screening for diabetes complications in people with diabetes in Ireland
- to determine the health impact and cost-effectiveness that could be achieved through early action and lifestyle intervention to prevent Type 2 diabetes.
Dr Jonathan Briody, a health economist at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences who will be undertaking the project said that “what makes this initiative unique and state-of-the-art research is the adoption of the US-based CDC health impact simulation model to the Irish setting”.
Dr Kate Gajewska, Diabetes Ireland Research and Advocacy Manager said: “Research and advocacy always go together, as there is no effective advocacy to change and improve care without data, proofs, and estimates. The information on the financial, psycho-social, and health-services-related burden of diabetes is missing in Ireland. We still have no diabetes registry, no clinical audit, and we do not know how much we spend, how big the financial burden of diabetes and its complication is, and how these costs can be reduced by appropriate interventions. Getting the evidence and information will help us tremendously to discuss the needs for improving diabetes care in Ireland and prove to policymakers that investing in prevention and intervention strategies makes better sense (and is more cost-effective) than spending half of the yearly diabetes budget on diabetes complications.”
