Once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes the disease usually manifests during childhood or adolescence, but can also develop in adults.

For people with Type 1 diabetes, improper management of the disease can increase the chance of developing other chronic conditions like heart and kidney disease, diabetic retinopathy, nerve damage, as well as the increased likelihood of stroke and limb amputations.

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In Tasmania alone, 3170 people live with Type 1 diabetes, while a further 21,700 are directly affected as carers, partners and family members.

One of those people is North-West man Daniel Webb who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a child.

"I was diagnosed with Type 1 when I was six," he said. "I grew up in Burnie on the North-West coast and I started spending a lot of time in hospital as a kid."

As well as suffering the daily effects of his condition, Mr Webb has undergone serious medical treatment on his eyes as a result of the disease, an issue he says will only get worse with age.

Having lived with diabetes for most of his life, the 33-year-old is now advocating for more funding to be allocated toward Type 1, with a focus on making insulin pumps and glucose monitors more accessible to diabetics.

"We're advocating that the current treatment, the optimal treatment for Type 1 diabetics, involve insulin pump technology and continuous glucose monitors," he said.

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While no treatment is without its complications, existing medical technologies like monitors and pumps offer those with Type 1 diabetes greater control and management of the disease, compared to a regime of daily tests and injections.

According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the cost of pumps and monitors was found to be about $5000 a year, with many diabetics unable to afford the treatment technology.

In a survey conducted by JDRF, it was found Type 1 diabetics were being forced to choose between the management technology and other costs of living.

Mr Webb, who has been using the technology for over a decade, explained that background monitoring meant he was not required to do multiple daily prick-tests or manual insulin injections.

"It's a subcutaneous set-up which lasts about a week or up to 10 days," he said.

"It sits on your skin and communicates through Bluetooth to an insulin pump which tells me all the time what your blood sugar levels are doing, and my pump will adjust my background insulin rate to what my sugar level is doing."

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He said despite the health benefits, public rebates were only available for people under 21, or to those on a concession card, meaning thousands of people wanting the technology would need to pay thousands of dollars.

"Insulin pumps are $8,000, they're provided free to people under 18 years of age, and the monitoring device is about $300 a month because you have to get a subscription, but they're provided free to people under 21, people with healthcare or on a concession card.

"$8,000 for an insulin pump and your $300 a month and that's not including the price of insulin.

"I pay about $60 for a script which allows me a couple of months and the pump consumables are about $120 a month."

Under the reimbursement scheme, 1902 Tasmanians did not have access to pumps and monitors with 1268 expected to face one or more complications that arise from poorly managed diabetes at a total cost of $59 million.

JDRF says with costs of about $5000 a year, the commonwealth needed to commit to $100 million in annual funding to expand access to the technology for people over 21 or outside the reimbursement scheme.

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The call has received support from both the major parties with Bass MHR Bridget Archer writing to the federal health minister Greg Hunt calling for support.

Labor's candidate for Bass, Ross Hart said federal Health spokesperson Mark Butler would continue to engage with JDRF Australia and other key stakeholders on the issue, while he would advocate for the extension of the scheme.

General Practitioner Dr Tim Jackson said with the rates of diabetes and other chronic conditions in Tasmania high, increasing the funding towards preventative measures like insulin pumps and monitors was a " no brainer".

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