Parliamentarians Gather in Melbourne to Lead on Diabetes Across the Western Pacific

More than 215 million adults in the Western Pacific live with diabetes, a number projected to reach 254 million by 2050. Each of them is a parent, a worker, a student or a grandparent managing a lifelong condition, often with uneven access to the medicines, technologies and support they need. In August 2026, Melbourne became the meeting point for the people working to close that gap.

The International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress took place from 18 to 21 August 2026, held jointly with the Australasian Diabetes Congress and Metabolic Diseases 2026. Organisers expected around 3,000 delegates and more than 250 speakers from across the region, bringing clinicians, researchers, advocates and people living with diabetes into one conversation.

Parliamentarians from India, Cambodia, Australia and as far afield as Bermuda gathered in Melbourne for the Parliamentary and Policy Maker Forum: Diabetes and the Western Pacific, Policy Leadership for a Healthier Future. Delivered by the Parliamentarians for Diabetes Global Network (PDGN) in collaboration with Diabetes Australia on 21 August, the forum worked to strengthen regional and global ties and to advance policy solutions that improve the lives of people living with, and at risk of, diabetes.

Members and expert panels explored regional inequality in access to medicines and diabetes management, the need to address stigma, and the growing importance of prevention and risk management in many countries. They also discussed the value of advocacy to government, the impact of diabetes across the Western Pacific and Asian regions, and disparities in access to technology.

The forum closed four days of evidence from researchers, clinicians, medical specialists and people living with diabetes. The parliamentarians added a perspective that the scientific programme cannot provide on its own: how national governments approach diabetes risk management and treatment in practice. Their exchange underlined the importance of collaboration and of sharing different approaches across regions, cultures and languages. PDGN thanks its Secretary General, Sana Ajmal, for convening the panel and bringing together such a diverse set of perspectives.

The host country offered concrete examples of what political commitment can deliver. On 17 August, Diabetes Australia announced that it will deliver the government funded Insulin Pump Program for children and young people under 21 over the next three years, easing one of the heaviest burdens families face in managing type 1 diabetes. During the Congress, the Shane Warne Legacy health check, which screens for type 2 diabetes risk among other measures, delivered its 500,000th free check. Diabetes Australia estimates that around 500,000 Australians are living with type 2 diabetes without knowing it.

The forum also gave members space to discuss the harder questions of policy design. When one advocate raised the lobbying pressure that the food industry places on governments considering sugar taxes, Hon. Craig Cannonier, JP, MP, President of the PDGN Advisory Board, described what happened in Bermuda. He explained that after the sugar tax was approved, retailers spread the additional cost across many other products on their shelves, so that prices rose more widely than intended. His account prompted a discussion of alternative and complementary measures, described in the Sugar Tax News section of this edition.

The Congress also placed people's lived experience at its centre, including dedicated sessions on diabetes stigma, described later in this edition. For parliamentarians, the message from Melbourne was clear: regional cooperation, shared evidence and sustained political leadership are what turn congress declarations into better lives, and legislators are well placed to carry that message home.

○ ADVOCACY ACTION FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS
Parliamentarians should use the momentum from Melbourne in their own parliaments: table questions asking how national diabetes plans will guarantee access to insulin, pumps and sensors for children and young people; press health ministers to fund early detection of type 2 diabetes in primary care; and use committee hearings or cross-party groups to review progress each year. Members who wish to join PDGN's Western Pacific network can contact sana@pdgn.org.uk