Starting in July, patients with severe diabetes will be formally recognized as people with disabilities. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 30th that it will revise the Enforcement Decree of the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act to create a new category for pancreatic disability and ease registration criteria. It is the first time in 23 years since 2003 that a new disability type has been added.
Once registered as having a pancreatic disability, people will be eligible for reduced fees for public facilities, electricity and telecommunications bills, and public charges, as well as various tax benefits. Disability allowances and medical expense support are available if various requirements are met.
The disability recognized this time targets diabetes patients whose insulin secretion function in the pancreas has been impaired. There have been calls to recognize this as a disability because continuous insulin administration and blood sugar management are required and the risk of acute complications makes daily life difficult.
An official from the ministry said, "Regardless of type 1 or type 2 diabetes, if the diagnostic requirements for pancreatic disability are met, disability registration is possible," and added, "To be diagnosed with a pancreatic disability, a person must have received intensive insulin therapy for at least six months and, through a C-peptide test, confirm that insulin secretion is at or below a certain threshold."
Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which there are no insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas, making it impossible to control blood sugar. Because many patients are children, it is called childhood diabetes. Type 2 diabetes mainly affects adults as they age and the efficiency of insulin action declines.