hey all..
i am from ireland and going travelling in january for 7 months. im goin spending 2 months in asia and 5 months in australia and nz. i am a type 1 diabetic and am just wondering about getting diabetic supplies in australia. My docter will only give me 3 months supply so i am going to need to get supplies in oz. has anyone ever had todo this before and is it relatively easy to get insulin and supplie in australia if you are not from there!!! any help is greatly appreciated!
Reply to this Hi Glen
Not sure where in Ireland you are from, ie North or south so not sure if it is the same but def in UK your Dr will only give 3 months of meds unless there are special reasons ie going traveling. My hubby was able to get meds for a year. I guess if he won't you would be able to get meds in Oz, you'd need prob to bring a letter from your dr and your prescription and see a dr at a med centre. not sure how much you have to pay for that, uk has recipricol (?sp) med care with Oz so i think you can get it free or cheeper thro medicare or something.
It shouldn't be a big problem i wouldn't have thought either way, have a ball!
c&t
Reply to this having no esact evidence that it is easy ( I even tried googling it, but didnt come up with anything)
I am australian and yes plenty of people here have type 1 diabetes, and we have all the medicines etc. I do believe it would be easy for you to get the medicine as obviously without it, you would end up in hospital where they would definately look after you.
the only thing i can think of would be that to see a doctor here will cost you around $50 - $60 dollars at least. So if you are atleast ready for the bill, the rest should be no problem. There could be more costs if they wanted to do tests to prove it or the like maybe - i am not too sure.. maybe a letter from your GP would be good.
Reply to this Hi Glen
I am also a type 1 diabetic and am planning a very similar trip to your own travelling to Asia, Australia and New Zealand in early 2008. Unlike youself my GP has agreed to supply me with the insulin for my time away (up to 1 year). I will be storing this in Frio bags whilst away to keep the insluin cool. Check out Frio bags website if you were unaware of these as I would highly recommend this is the best way to store your insulin whilst on the road.
Dependant upon the insulin and injection devices you use, you should be able to pick up the insulin on your travels. I am on Novorapid and Lantus and I have spoken to both companies to confirm the availibility of these insulins in Asia and Australia. Australia have no problems with supplying this and very easy to obtain this as long as you have a pre written prescription from your GP prior to departing.
Asia could potentially be even simpler as some medical counters in some Asian countries sell this over the counter (I beleive Thailand is one of these). In terms of price I have no idea what these retail for, but I would assume that Asia is going to be far cheaper to stock up on insulin then Australia. Your only other option would be to purchase this yourself prior to leaving, although this will probably be the most expensive way of doing it.
Paul
Reply to this Hi Glen i would imagine you should be able to get meds ok as i will need to top up my on my inhalers in OZ as i had the same trouble of trying to get my doctor to give me more😞
Thx Mike😊
Reply to this hey,
thanks for all the replies. they were great. was talkin to the diabetic nurse at the clinic and she was saying that the Australian Government has signed a reciprocal health care agreement with the Government of the Republic of Ireland so there should be no hassle in getting supplies once i register when i get there which is pretty cool. the plan is to go to asia for 2 months and oz for 5 months. i will have 3 months supply with me so enough to cover asia so when i get to oz ill be able to top up on supplies when im there. ill let ye know how i get on on the trip!
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