黑料吃瓜群网

The has launched, the Australian Government has announced. The scheme will provide fully subsidised wound care products for people with diabetes aged 65 and over who do not have access to other wound care schemes. For First Nations people 鈥� who are disproportionately affected by diabetes and chronic wounds 鈥� the scheme is available from age 50.

The government has invested close to $50 million in the Medicare scheme and expects that, annually, 20,000 older Australians will benefit from completely free access to wound care products; the full cost for wound consumable products, such as adhesives, bandages and dressings, that the government said costs patients around $4000 each year.

Patients can now be enrolled by eligible healthcare professionals 鈥� using an online portal 鈥� and ordered wound consumable products can be delivered to a patient鈥檚 home or sent to themselves at no cost. The government said that already 3500 healthcare professionals have registered to undertake the training, a number that it said is continuing to grow.

鈥淐hronic wounds are difficult to treat, require long-term care and are debilitating for patients,鈥� Australia鈥檚 Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler said. 鈥淭his new scheme offers a convenient and free service that will benefit the quality of life for thousands of Australians.鈥� Butler added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e built this program based on data that shows older Australians with diabetes are the most likely to suffer from chronic wounds.鈥�

Regarding the need for the scheme, CEO Jeff Antcliff said: 鈥淣early half a million people in Australia live with chronic wounds. They can be painful, isolating, embarrassing and expensive to treat. The good news is, many wounds can be healed with appropriate treatment 鈥� but long-term wound care can be expensive.鈥� Antcliff called the scheme 鈥渁n innovation program鈥� and 鈥渁 crucial first step towards helping more Australians living with chronic wounds on a path to healing鈥�.

More information on the scheme is available , via the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Image credit: iStock.com/gpointstudio