Puglia: a breakthrough in diabetes care, with wider access to new technologies

A step forward for diabetes care in Puglia has been taken with the decision to update the guidelines on access to technological devices for continuous blood glucose monitoring, thereby improving patient care. The update – which has incorporated the recommendations formulated by the regional Health Technology Assessment (HTA) technical committee – will therefore allow diabetes specialists to prescribe these devices directly, the elimination of bureaucratic procedures that led to unnecessary repeat appointments, greater continuity of care by avoiding device changes not justified by clinical needs, and, finally, the extension of access to advanced technologies to a wider number of people on insulin therapy.

The regional measure allows for “a more comprehensive and timely management of people with diabetes, and broadens the pool of eligible patients to include those on basal insulin therapy, rather than solely those on multiple-injection insulin therapy”, emphasises Francesco Giorgino, professor at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, director of the Endocrinology Unit at the regional capital’s Polyclinic and president of the EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes). The region’s decision therefore increases the opportunity to benefit from technologies that have been shown to improve glycaemic control, reduce the risk of hypo- and hyperglycaemia, enhance the safety of care and promote a better quality of life.

And this is primarily the result of the recommendations that emerged from the regional round table (HTA) and the contribution made, at the same forum, by FAND, the Italian Diabetes Association, towards defining a simpler, more appropriate and fairer care model. In fact, as early as January 2025, FAND had highlighted, during a conference, the main shortcomings of the system, which was followed by discussions leading to the regional measure that Manuela Bertaggia, the association’s President, now describes as “an achievement that belongs to the entire community of people with diabetes, and which demonstrates that dialogue between institutions, the scientific community and patient organisations can result in concrete decisions capable of improving the quality of care and safeguarding the right to health”.