Skip to content

Update on the FreeStyle Libre petition

Late last year the Diabetic South African community started a petition. The first time people with diabetes in SA all united for a single cause: to empower diabetics to control their blood sugar by covering the FreeStyle Libre on SA medical aids.

Why a Freestyle Libre petition? Because the Libre is the most affordable CGM currently on the market: R1980 a month with no upfront costs. That’s still far beyond what most people can afford, and at present it isn’t covered at all by medical aids. Hopefully that’s about to change… The end result we’re aiming for is a ‘diabetes tech’ amount as part of the PMB (Prescribed Minimum Benefits) bundle for people with diabetes. This amount could be spent on the FreeStyle Libre or to cover any CGM you choose.

Petition results

We sent the FreeStyle Libre petition to all the major medical aids, and had meetings with Discovery, Momentum and Medscheme. While all three expressed interest, Discovery has since moved forward by meeting with Abbott, the manufacturers of the Libre, and working out a deal. This will either be a pilot to test the project, or access to the Libre if you meet certain requirements – we’re not sure yet.

What is particularly exciting is that Discovery is responding on social media about moving forward with diabetes tech. Take a look below at the response one of our diabetes advocates got from Discovery.


Response from Discovery: discovery_sa


We are holding fingers and thumbs that we can soon report on a positive outcome and that Discovery chooses to be the industry leader in diabetes in South Africa. Watch this space!


Discover more from South Africans with Diabetes

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
What to read next
Join South Africans with Diabetes on Facebook

Join our diabetes community

4 Comments

  1. I would please like to immediately join this cause and any possible petition to make Freestyle Libre sensors fully covered and part of the PMBs on medical aids. I would also like to go as far as to say that it should then be covered from the chronic benefit and not from a person’s Medical Savings Account.

  2. Emmie Palmer Emmie Palmer

    Saving lives, that is what continuous monitoring does. Saving lives and preventing emergency admissions. It gives the patient and the caretakers/ families peace of mind. I do not understand how this is not already protocol for Tipe 1 diabetes patients? We are almost in 2023. What is the current state of affairs?

What do you think?

Sweet Life is a registered NPO/PBO (220-984) with a single goal: to improve diabetes in South Africa. We are funded by sponsorships and donations from aligned companies and organisations who believe in our work. We only share information that we believe benefits our community. While some of this information is linked to specific brands, it is not an official endorsement of that brand. We believe in empowering people with diabetes to make the best decisions they can, to live a healthy, happy life with diabetes.

Get all the latest diabetes news - for free!

Once a month, we'll send you a quick diabetes update.
It's the one newsletter everyone with diabetes in SA should be reading.